Teardrops On My Guitar
by xxCarrie-Annxx
Summary: Semisongfic. Thanks to his girlfriend, Troy turns on Gabriella. Will he realize his mistake and try to get her back, or is the friendship they once had gone forever, especially when Gabriella moves on? Troyoc. Gabriellaoc. Troyella?
1. Chapter 1

Here's another songfic by me. I'm hoping this one has a better turn out then my last one, so please tell me what you think! Also, it's told entirely in Gabriella POV, and I had to change the lyrics to the song up a bit to fit the story, or else when it says 'Troy', it would've said 'Drew'.

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine, nor is the song "Teardrops On My Guitar" which is by Taylor Swift.

* * *

"Hey, Gabs!" Troy greeted me happily like he did every morning, using one of his nicknames for me. I looked up and was instantly captivated by his sparkling blue eyes and his beautiful smile. 

"Hi, Troy." I replied and smiled back, "So, are you still coming over Friday to work on the science project?"

Troy rubbed the back of his head nervously, which told me that that would be a 'no'.

"Actually, Gabi, that's what I need to talk to you about." he started. Yep, his answer was going to be 'no'.

"You forgot, didn't you?" I asked him. He had started dating some girl named Jen, and ever since, he's been 'forgetting' our plans.

"No, it's just that I already made plans with Jen, so I was wondering if we could reschedule?"

My smile disappeared at the mention of that name, "But, Troy, we had this planned for over a week! It's due Monday!"

"I know, and Gabi, I'm sorry, but I--"

"Why can't you just reschedule your date?" I asked, cutting him off. It always seemed to be the plans that he made with me that were rescheduled, never the ones he made with Jen.

"Look, Gabriella, I'll make it up to you, I promise." he told me and flashed me another smile, causing the anger I had just a few seconds ago to melt.

I smiled back, trying hard not to let him see it was fake.

_Troy looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see  
That I want and I'm needing everything that we should be _

"So, by the way, how are things between you two anyways?" I wanted him to say that things weren't going so well and that Jen wasn't the one for him, but no such luck.

"Oh, things are great between us!" he replied happily, "In fact, it may sound crazy, but I think she might be the one."

_I'll bet she's beautiful, that girl he talks about  
And she's got everything that I have to live without _

I felt my voice get caught in my throat as I tried my hardest not to cry, at least not in front of him. It wasn't his fault that he fell for someone else; it was my fault for not getting him first, so now I just have to live with it no matter how much it hurt.

"That's great to hear, Troy." I told him and managed a weak smile.

Before we could say anymore, the bell rang, telling us that we had to get to homeroom before Darbus killed us.

"So, I'll talk to you later?" he asked as we walked inside.

I nodded, knowing exactly where he would suggest.

"Our place during free period?"

Predictable. That's where we always met, but it's the only place that we could be alone. Even though he was 'in love' with Jen, he never told her about our place, just me. I guess that counts for something, right?

"Yea, see you there, Troy."

* * *

"There you are! I thought you got lost!" Troy told me as I walked up the stairs to our spot. 

I laughed, "You wish, Bolton."

"No, I wouldn't want you to get lost, because then I'd have to get up and look for you." he told me.

I just rolled eyes and let out a small giggle. That's another reason that I like Troy, he always knew how to make me laugh.

_Troy talks to me, I laugh cause it's so funny  
That I can't even see anyone when he's with me_

"So, Gabi, I told you I'd make it up to you with the project, right?" Troy suddenly asked me.

"Uh, yea, but you don't have to." I answered, but was secretly hoping he would say something sweet like he always does.

"Nonsense, Gabs, I promised I'd make it up to you, and I never break promises."

I smiled sweetly, "You're the best, Troy."

Troy's smile grew bigger at this, "Thanks, but you haven't heard what I had in mind yet."

"And what might the great Troy Bolton have in mind?" I asked curiously.

"How about pizza and a movie at my place next Wednesday night?" he asked.

"But won't Jen be jealous?" I asked him, trying to hide my excitement.

"Well, I don't think she will, since she'll be there too." he answered. I could sense the nervousness in his voice.

I looked down in disappointment. He said he wanted to make it up to me, but he never said that Jen was part of the deal. I wanted to say no and that it'd be a little awkward for me to go, but he was trying and that would be a little rude to decline his offer, even though I'd be considered a third wheel. I decided that it'd be better if I just said nothing.

"Gabi, is that ok with you?" he asked me.

I nodded sadly, not wanting him to know not only how I felt about Jen being there, but also how I felt about them dating in general.

"I can't wait till you meet her. Gabi, she's wonderful! I know you two will get along just fine."

I just smiled and tried not to cry as a large lump started to form in the back of my throat, preventing me from speaking.

_He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right,  
I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night_

"Hey, Gabi, is something wrong?" he asked me. He must've caught on that I wasn't speaking.

"Yea, yea, everything's great." I said quietly, "Um, I have to meet Taylor, so I'll see you later, k?"

Before he could say anything, I ran out of the garden and back down to the chemistry lab. I heard him calling my name but I refused to stop.

It was too much for me to take anymore. I always thought that by some miracle Troy and Jen would break up and Troy would come to me, but now I knew that that would only happen in my fantasy world.

_He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star  
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do_

"Gabi, there you are!" Troy said as he ran up to me a few minutes later, "Gabriella, what's wrong?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I kept walking until he grabbed me by the arm.

_Troy walks by me, can he tell that I can't breathe?_

"Gabriella, I know you better than that! Now, please talk to me!" he pleaded, "What did I do?"

"You didn't do anything, Troy. I've just had a lot on my mind lately, that's all, so please just let me go, ok?" I answered finally, refusing to look at him in fear of breaking down.

Troy let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine, but you know you can tell me anything, ok?"

I nodded and he let go of my arm.

"Now, are you sure you're alright?" he asked me again.

"Yea, I'm fine." I lied. By the look he gave me, I could tell that he knew I was lying, but he must've put it off to the side as he smiled.

Are you sure you're alright?" he asked me as he started walking away.

"Yea."

_And there he goes, so perfectly,  
The kind of flawless I wish I could be _

I sighed and walked off to find Taylor. Taylor was the only one who knew how I truly felt about Troy and knew what I've been going through ever since Troy and Jen started dating.

I wish I was Jen, then maybe Troy would've fallen for me instead. From what Troy's told me, Jen seems to be everything I'm not.

_She'd better hold him tight, give him all her love  
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she's lucky cause_

_He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star  
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do_

* * *

I didn't see Troy the rest of the day, so I guess he was hanging around Jen. I miss him so much! True, I see him everyday, but now that he's with Jen, that's all he talks about and I can't stand it! I wish Jen would turn out not to be 'Troy's perfect girl'. I wish Troy knew how I felt and that he felt the same way. Sometimes, I even wish that I never met Troy, that way he couldn't break my heart. 

_So I drive home alone, as I turn out the light  
I'll put his picture down and maybe  
Get some sleep tonight _

I sat on my bed and pulled out the acoustic guitar my dad had bought me for Christmas a few years ago. I started playing part of the one song that I managed to teach myself how to play and I sang along as the tears I've held in all day started to fall onto the guitar.

"He_'s the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart  
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do  
He's the time taken up, but there's never enough  
And he's all that I need to fall into…"_

I drifted off to sleep with the melody still playing my mind, hoping that everything wrong in my life would disappear, and that Troy didn't find someone else and instead was with me…

* * *

I walked into school the next day feeling a bit better but not much. I felt a few tears run down my face when I found Troy at his locker with the girl who I figured was Jen. Troy had a wide grin on his face as he leaned down and kissed her lips. 

The lump in my throat grew bigger when Troy looked at me with his infamous smile.

_Troy looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see…_


	2. Chapter 2

Ok, I changed up this chapter a bit to make it look better. I decided that from here on out, I'll go back to my comfort zone and try to stay away from putting it in different character's point of views, so hopefully it'll go better that way.

Disclaimer: I'm 14, I have no job. Do you honestly believe I'm qualified to own anything?

* * *

"Mom, I don't feel so well, can I please stay home?" Gabriella begged her mom early Wednesday morning. Although she wasn't really sick, she just needed an excuse not to go to Troy's house that afternoon. She wouldn't have minded it so much if it was just him, but she couldn't stand to be around Jen.

"But, honey, you don't look sick to me." her mom told her.

Gabriella started coughing badly, making it as believable as she could. Ever since the Winter Musical four months ago, she had become better at acting and faking.

"Fine, I guess you can stay home if you're that sick." she said, "I have to go to work, but I'll be home at five, ok?"

"Ok, bye, mom." that plan worked well for her. Now all she had to do was call Taylor and have her tell Troy that I'm too sick to go to his house.

"Hello?"

"Tay, it's Gabi. Listen, I need you to tell Troy that I have the flu, ok?"

"Huh?"

"Remember I told you that he wanted me to come to his house tonight to meet Jen? Well,

I don't want to because I know it'll just break my heart more than it already is if I go, so please tell him I'm sick!"

"Ok, Gabi, calm down, I'll tell him!"

"Thanks, Tay."

"No problem, but why don't you just tell Troy the truth?"

"And tell him what? That I refuse to go because I can't stand to see him with Jen? That

I'm really in love with him?"

"Yes!"

"Taylor, that's selfish! He fell for someone else and there's nothing I can do about it. I refuse to let my feelings ruin his happiness. Jen's who makes him happy, and that's that."

"Fine, but you'll regret it."

"I probably will, but I'm not risking my friendship with him over this."

"Ok, look, Gabi, I have to go, so I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Ok, bye, Taylor."

* * *

"Troy, there you are!" Taylor yelled while running up to him. She had been trying to find him all morning to give him Gabriella's message.

"Hey, Tay, what's up?" Troy greeted her. Taylor tried hard not to glare when she saw a certain blonde named Jen standing next to him.

"Uh, Gabriella has the flu and couldn't make it to school or won't be able to make it to your house tonight. She says she's really sorry." she explained, hoping he couldn't tell she was lying.

"Is she going to be ok?" he asked worriedly.

"Uh, yea, yea. She said she might be back as soon as tomorrow."

"But if you have the flu, how can you be better in a day?" Jen asked suspiciously. Taylor glared at her.

"Uh, Gabriella has a pretty strong immune system, so I'm sure she'll be back. Besides, she hates missing school, so knowing her, she'll be back whether she's feeling better or not."

"Um, since school technically doesn't start for another ten minutes, I'm going to call her."

"Uh, that's not a very good idea." Taylor quickly said, "Uh, Gabriella doesn't feel much like talking."

"Well, she talked to you, didn't she?" Troy pointed out. Obviously, things weren't going as well as Taylor thought they would.

"Uh, yea, but ---"

"I'll just call, I won't be that long." Troy insisted and turned back to Jen, "I'll be back in a minute, ok, babe?"

"Ok, babe."

Taylor watched as Troy gave her a quick peck on the lips before going outside to call Gabriella, which left Taylor alone with Jen.

Taylor started to walk away, not wanting to be anywhere near my best friend's worst rival for her guy's heart.

"Wait!" Taylor stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of Jen's voice.

"What?" she asked, turning around to face her again.

"Gabriella's not really sick, is she?" she asked her.

"Yea she is." Taylor lied, wondering how a complete stranger could tell she was lying.

"Yea, whatever." Jen said coldly, not the least bit convinced.

Um, I have to go to the uh, chemistry lab!" Taylor quickly said, thankful for a quick escape.

* * *

Troy ran out of the school and pulled out my phone.

"Eight minutes left." Troy said to himself, looking down at the clock on his phone, "I hope she's going to be alright."

"Hello?"

"Gabi, it's Troy. Taylor told me you were sick, so I decided to check on you."

"Uh, Troy, I can't talk right now! I got to go, bye!"

Troy looked down at his phone in confusion. She had been acting strangely all week, and she was acting rather distant towards him ever since he talked to her on the roof Thursday.

"Troy, have you seen Gabriella?" Kelsi asked him, snapping Troy out of my thoughts.

"She's sick." he answered.

"Oh, that stinks. She told me that she wrote a song and was going to have me look over it." Kelsi said.

I raised my eyebrow in confusion, "Gabriella writes songs?"

"Well, she wrote two. The first one she wrote when she wasn't speaking to you when you broke her heart, remember?"

"How can I forget?" he answered, "Do you have her first one?"

"Uh, yea, she gave me a copy, so here."

He looked over the song, and a large lump formed in the back of his throat.

_It's funny when you find yourself  
Looking from the outside  
I'm standing here but all I want  
Is to be over there  
Why did I let myself believe  
Miracles could happen  
Cause now I have to pretend  
That I don't really care _

_I thought you were my fairytale  
A dream when I'm not sleeping  
A wish upon a star  
That's coming true  
But everybody else could tell  
That I confused my feelings with the truth  
When there was me and you _

I swore I knew the melody  
That I heard you singing  
And when you smiled  
You made me feel  
Like I could sing along  
But then you went and changed the words  
Now my heart is empty  
I'm only left with used-to-be's  
And once upon a song

Now I know you're not a fairytale  
And dreams were meant for sleeping  
And wishes on a star  
Just don't come true  
Cause now even I can tell  
That I confused my feelings with the truth  
Because I liked the view  
When there was me and you

_I can't believe that  
I could be so blind  
It's like you were floating  
While I was falling  
And I didn't mind_

_Cause I liked the view  
Thought you felt it too  
When there was me and you_

"Wow." was all he could really say, "I didn't know she had it in her."

"I know. I'm sure her second one will be just as good, if not better."

"If I'm lucky, maybe she'll let me read it." he told her, "I tried to talk to her a minute ago, but she hung up on me. Do you know what I did to make her avoid me?"

"Well, you know how you avoid Gabriella often ever since you and Jen got together? Maybe she found a boyfriend." Kelsi said.

"Does she really?" He didn't know why, but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach at the thought of Gabriella having a boyfriend. True, he did love her, but only like a brotherly love, and besides, he was in love with Jen, so he couldn't have feelings for Gabriella, could he?

"I don't think she does, but I'm just saying that you were pretty distant with her a while back." she pointed out.

"Yea, but I didn't hang up on her when she called me."

"You'll just have to ask her yourself, Troy. I'm sure she had a good reason."

He sighed, "I hope so. I hate seeing her mad at me, especially when I have no idea what I did."

Just then, the bell rang for homeroom. Troy already knew that today would be spent worrying about Gabriella.

* * *

"_Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see  
That I want and I'm needing everything that we should be  
I'll bet she's beautiful, that girl he talks about  
And she's got everything that I have to live without _

_Drew talks to me, I laugh cause it's so funny  
That I can't even see anyone when he's with me  
He says he's so in love, he's finally got it right,  
I wonder if he knows he's all I think about at night_

_He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star  
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do_

_Drew walks by me, can he tell that I can't breathe?  
And there he goes, so perfectly,  
The kind of flawless I wish I could be  
She'd better hold him tight, give him all her love  
Look in those beautiful eyes and know she's lucky cause_

_He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only thing that keeps me wishing on a wishing star  
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do _

_So I drive home alone, as I turn out the light  
I'll put his picture down and maybe  
Get some sleep tonight _

_He's the reason for the teardrops on my guitar  
The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart  
He's the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do  
He's the time taken up, but there's never enough  
And he's all that I need to fall into.._

_Drew looks at me, I fake a smile so he won't see…"_

Gabriella sang as tears started flowing down her cheeks. Since she was going to let Kelsi read over it, she decided to change the lyrics so it wasn't as obvious who she was talking about, even though it was pretty obvious to begin with.

Sighing, she and laid back on her bed. She thought back to what happened only several minutes ago. She didn't mean to hang up on Troy, she just panicked and did the first thing that came to mind.

"I hope he isn't too mad at me…"


	3. Chapter 3

I went back to chapter two, and I changed it a bit to make it better, but all I really did was go through and change everything to normal POV because it sounded better that way. Pretty much the rest of the story will be in normal POV unless I center it Gabriella like I did in chapter one. Ok, I'm done wasting your time now.

Disclaimer: HSM is not mine.

* * *

"I see you're feeling better." Taylor said to Gabriella the following morning. 

"Does Troy hate me?" Gabriella asked her worriedly.

"No, he thinks you hate him."

"What? Why?"

"Gabriella, you hung up on the poor boy. What is he supposed to think?"

"True. I'll talk to him later." Gabriella said, "So, was Jen there when you talked to him?"

Taylor nodded, "She seems nice…not."

"When will he come to his senses and learn that she's not his true love?" Gabriella questioned.

"When will he learn that his true love is his best friend?" Taylor asked.

"Ew! You mean Chad?" Although Gabriella knew who she was talking about, she still liked to play dumb.

Taylor slapped her forehead in frustration, "No! Not Chad, you!"

"But, Tay, what if Troy and I aren't meant to be? What if all that I feel for him is just a small crush and nothing more?"

"The fact that you love him more than anyone on Earth and that you get jealous every time another girl looks at him for more than three seconds pretty much says that it's more than just a crush. Gabi, it's love."

"Hey! How did you find that out?" Gabriella asked as her face turned a bright red.

"Well, uh, the last time I was alone in your room while you were in the bathroom, I may have accidentally started reading your diary, hehe." Taylor explained nervously, "So, why don't you go tell him?"

"That's the last time I leave my diary on my bed when I'm not around." Gabriella answered, "And, I guess I should go talk to him, but what if he doesn't want to talk to me?"

"Relax, Gabi, I'm sure it'll all work out fine." Taylor assured her, "Now go!"

"Ok, I'm going, but I hope he doesn't hate." Gabriella started to walk towards Troy's locker, only to find Troy making out with Jen. Biting her bottom lip, Gabriella tapped lightly on his shoulder to attract his attention.

"Oh, uh, Gabi, hey." Troy greeted her, turning his attention from Jen, which she really didn't like.

"Uh, hey, um, I'm sorry about hanging up on you yesterday, I was just--"

"Gabs, it's ok, no need to apologize." he said.

"So, uh, you must be Jen?" Gabriella said, changing the subject.

"Yea, Gabi, this is Jen, and Jen, this is Gabriella." Troy introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you." Gabriella lied, forcing herself to smile.

"Troy, can we go?" Jen asked in a bored tone, sending Gabriella an icy glare without him noticing.

"Uh, sure." Troy answered, "Gabs, I'll meet you later, ok?"

Gabriella nodded sadly as the couple left her standing in the middle of the hallway.

* * *

"Hey, Gabi!" Kelsi greeted her during lunch. 

"Hey, Kelsi." Gabriella answered, but her eyes were glued to the scene across the cafeteria, where Jen sat in Troy's lap.

"She'd better hold him tight, give him all her love. Look in those beautiful eyes and know she's lucky." Gabriella accidentally sang out loud.

Kelsi gave her a confused look, but then she saw what Gabriella was looking at and understood, "You miss him, don't you?"

Gabriella nodded as a tear ran down her cheek, "More than you know."

"Why don't you just tell him how you feel about them being together?" Kelsi suggested.

"I want to, but I can't. It's too complicated." she answered.

"But isn't it better to tell him now than ten years from now when they're getting married?" Kelsi pointed out.

Gabriella sighed, "I guess so."

"The song you showed me earlier, why don't you show it to him?" she suggested.

"I can't! He'll figure out it was about him and Jen, so I can't!" she quickly said.

"You know he'll eventually find out anyways."

"You're the only other person who knows, and you can't tell him!"

"Don't worry, I won't. I just know that someday you'll wind up showing him."

"Not if I can help it."

* * *

"Nice of you to join me." Troy teased as he watched Gabriella run up the stairs to their spot during free period. 

Gabriella sat down beside him on the bench, "Well, after you ditched me earlier, you're lucky I decided to show."

"Uh, yea, sorry about that." Troy replied sheepishly.

Gabriella laughed, "Troy, it's ok, I know you're a busy man."

"So, why were you out yesterday?" he asked her, changing the subject.

"Uh, I was sick." she lied, "Didn't Taylor tell you?"

"Yea, but if you had the flu, how did it go away so soon?" he questioned.

"Oh, uh, I had a cold. Taylor must've got the message wrong."

"But no matter what you had, you wouldn't be better all of a sudden." he pointed out.

"Look, Troy, can we just drop it?" she asked, growing a bit irritable.

"Alright." he said and absentmindedly draped his arm across her shoulders.

Gabriella smiled, "You haven't done this in a while."

"Done what?" he asked, then noticed where his arm was and his face went red as he quickly removed it, much to Gabriella's disappointment, "So-sorry about that."

Sighing, Gabriella looked down to hide her sadness, "What has happened to us?"

"Gabs, what are you talking about?" Troy asked her.

"Troy, I'm talking about how we've grown apart." she started.

"But we hang out everyday." he pointed out.

"It's not the same though. You used to hold my hand, hug me, kiss my cheek, and other little things that I found sweet. Now I'm lucky if I can get you to talk to me. What happened?"

"I have a girlfriend now, that's what happened. I have her to think about." he replied, unsure of where this was going.

Gabriella let her hair fall in front of her face as a few tears rolled down her cheeks, "But what about after the triple win? When you tried to kiss me? If Chad hadn't have interrupted, what would've happened with us?"

Troy tried to come up with an answer, but his mind drew a blank, "I honestly don't know, Gabriella."

"Are you glad Chad interrupted?" she asked him, although she knew the answer.

"Yea, I mean, what were we thinking? What was I thinking? All it would've accomplished was making our friendship complicated." Troy didn't know this, but one more false answer would've completely shattered Gabriella's already broken heart.

Gabriella suddenly stood up and walked towards the railing, not wanting Troy to see her crying, "What about at the after party? When you asked me to slow dance? You tried to kiss me again, was that a mistake too?"

"I guess it was just spur of the moment." he answered, confused about what was going on.

Gabriella decided to give it one last shot, "While we were dancing, we were closer than ever. How did you feel about me at the moment?"

"Gabriella, why are you asking me all of this?" he asked her.

"Because I need to know."

"Need to know what?"

"I need to know how you would feel about me if Jen were out of the picture."

"Why?"

"I can't say."

Troy let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that there was no use in hiding it from her any longer, "You know what? Before Jen came along, Gabriella, you were the one that I thought I was in love with, but after I met Jen, those feelings changed into more of a brotherly love towards you."

"You thought you were in love with me?" she questioned.

"Uh, yea." he answered unsurely, wondering if he said the wrong thing.

"If Jen hadn't come along, would you still think that?"

"Gabi, I don't know!" he answered, obviously frustrated.

An idea formed in Gabriella's mind and she dug out a few papers, "Would you mind looking over this?"

"Uh, sure." he answered, not sure what she was doing.

Gabriella handed him the music sheet to "Teardrops On My Guitar", making sure it wasn't the original version.

Troy read over it, and his eyes lit up, "You wrote this?"

Gabriella nodded, "It's straight from my heart."

Troy looked up from the papers and stared into her eyes, "So you have a crush on a guy who's taken?"

Gabriella nodded, silently hoping he could figure out it was him, "I know, it's corny."

"No, it's not. Hopefully whoever it is will come to his senses and see that he's won the heart of a wonderful girl." Troy said, "So, who's the lucky guy?"

Gabriella was crestfallen, but managed to hide it, "Uh, you wouldn't know him."

"Gabs, are you forgetting that I'm one of the most popular guys in school. I know everyone." Troy pointed out.

"Uh, yea, but I just can't say." she answered.

"You know you want to tell me." he pressed again.

"No, I really don't." she replied nervously, knowing that if he kept it up, he'd pry it out of her.

"C'mon, Gabi, pwease?" he asked, sounding like a two-year-old.

Gabriela couldn't help but laugh, "Troy, please don't!"

"Ah well, you'll come to your senses someday." he replied.

"Troy, there's something else that I need to talk to you about." Gabriella said, going back to being serious.

"Sure, what is it?"

Gabriella took a deep breath, hoping he didn't get mad at her for what she was about to say, "Are you sure Jen's the one for you?"

"Uh, yea, I'm almost completely certain, why?"

"Because I really don't think she is." Gabriella said quietly.

"How do you get that?" he asked.

"I just do." she answered, "You're too good, Troy, and I don't think she deserves you."

"But you don't even know her! You don't know the first thing about her!" he snapped, causing Gabriella to jump in surprise.

"But, Troy, I-I know her type, and they'll just leave you heartbroken. Before I moved here, I was friends with a girl like Jen. She started out being extremely nice to me, but she wound up stabbing me in the back." Gabriella said, hoping to get him to calm down.

"How do you know Jen's type when you don't know anything about her?"

"When we were talking earlier, she gave me this look, and it was then that I knew." Gabriella said, although she knew he wouldn't listen to her.

"Look, Gabriella, I have to go." he said and left without another word.

Gabriella sighed sadly as the door slammed shut behind him, '_Have I done the wrong thing?'_


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing.

* * *

"I don't know what to do, Taylor! Troy refuses to speak to me!" Gabriella told her frantically. Ever since the incident during free period the day before, Troy was avoiding her to the point he wouldn't even look at her. 

"Gabriella, chill. I'll get Chad to talk to him and you guys can talk this over." Taylor suggested.

"Thanks, but what if he still won't talk to me?" she asked, "I mean, now that he's with _her_, he doesn't need me. Hanging out with me was probably just a waste of time for him anyways."

"Gabi, I'm sure that's not true! Troy is still in love with you, he just needs some time to realize it."

Sighing sadly, Gabriella and leaned against a locker, "But what if you're wrong? What if he really is in love with Jen? What if he really has moved on? What if Troy and I are wrong for each other? What if he hates me? What if--"

"What if you don't stop asking me 'what if'?" Taylor interrupted, "All your questions can be answered with one answer: no!"

* * *

"Baby, don't worry about her. You have me now, you don't need her." Jen told Troy after he finished telling her about his and Gabriella's conversation the day before. 

Troy sighed, "I know, but Gabriella's one of my best friends and I would hate to ruin our friendship."

"She's already done that, Troy, don't you get it? She knew by saying what she said, you might get mad, but she did it anyways. She's not the type of person you should be around. You're too good for her." Jen told him.

Troy's eyes darkened slightly, "Gabriella happens to be one of the nicest people I know!"

"Then why does she have a problem with us dating?" she asked, but then a thought crossed her mind, "Is she jealous or something?"

"Gabi? No way!" he denied.

"Troy, all those questions that she asked about your feelings for her were so she could see if you're in love with her because she's in love with you. It's so obvious."

Troy shook his head, "Nah, Gabi doesn't like me like that. She likes someone else but he's taken."

"Did she ever say who?"

"No."

"Then it's most likely you, Troy. You just need to set her straight and tell her that you're in love with me, not her."

"I still think you have the wrong idea about this." Troy said, although he knew she had a point.

"We'll see."

**

* * *

**

"Gabriella, we need to talk!" Gabriella turned around and came face-to-face with the last person she expected to see, Jen.

"Uh, Jen, what's wrong?" Gabriella asked nervously.

"The fact that you're trying to steal my boyfriend, that's what wrong!" Jen yelled angrily.

"Wait a sec, I'm not trying to steal Troy from you! We're just friends!" Gabriella denied.

"Then why were you asking him about his feelings for you? Why did you tell him that we shouldn't be together?" she questioned angrily.

"H-He told you?" Gabriella's face turned pale, for she didn't expect him to tell anyone of their conversation.

"Yes, he told me, and I don't appreciate you trying to get involved in our relationship! Just because you're 'in love' with Troy doesn't give you the right to try to break us up!"

"I'm not in love with Troy! I'm not trying to break you guys up either!" she denied, although part of it was true, she really was in love with Troy, but she would never try to break them up.

"Yea right. It's obvious that you're jealous of me because I have what you can never have. I have the perfect body, the perfect boyfriend, and everyone loves me. A nerd like you could never stand a chance with a guy like Troy!"

This comment hit Gabriella pretty hard. Refusing to be made a fool any further, Gabriella took off running as tears started to flow down her face. She knew it was true, a nerd like her could and would never stand a chance with Troy no matter how much she tried to convince herself otherwise.

"Hey, Gabriella, what's wrong?" Gabriella immediately recognized the voice to be that of Troy's, but she didn't stop running. She heard him running after her, but she still refused to stop, even though she knew he would soon catch up to her anyways.

In a matter of seconds, Troy caught up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, preventing her from going anywhere.

"Gabi, please tell me what's wrong?" Troy said as she sobbed quietly into his chest. He hated to see her cry, and he always did whatever it took to get her to cheer up.

"I-It's nothing, Troy." she quietly answered.

"If it's nothing, then why are you crying?" he questioned and wiped the tears out of her eyes, "C'mon, you can tell me anything, you know that."

"Fine. The guy I like, his girlfriend came up to me and accused me of being jealous. She said that I will never be with him because unlike her, I don't have the body or the right personality." Gabriella answered, "And she's right. There's nothing special about me, I'm just a nerd, nothing else."

Angrily, Troy cupped her chin in his hand. He wasn't mad at her, he was mad at whoever told her these lies. "You listen to me, Gabriella. You're one of the most beautiful girls I've ever known. You're also one of the nicest. Any guy on Earth would be lucky to have you, but obviously, this guy you like isn't worth your time or else he'd realize that and dump the witch he's with now."

Gabriella looked at him in shock, for she wasn't expecting him to say that, but in a way, she was glad he did.

Troy's face turned bright red, for he didn't mean to say what he said, although it was one hundred percent true.

"D-do you really think so?" she asked him.

"Gabi, I know so." he confirmed, "Guys who fall for girls like that aren't worth your time. You're much better than them, in fact, you're far out of their league. You'd be wasting your time with them. You need to find someone who knows how valuable you are, someone who will treat you right. Someone who loves you as much as you love him."

"But, Troy, there's only one guy out there that I love, and he's the only guy I'll ever love." Gabriella replied sadly, knowing that Troy would never get the message unless she came right out and told him, which was something that she wasn't going to do, not now, not ever.

"How do you know that, Gabi? I mean, there's millions of guys out there, so why limit yourself to just one guy that'll never love you?" he asked her.

"I-I guess you're right." she said sadly, "Thanks, Troy."

"No problem, Gabriella." he said and smiled warmly, "And, if a guy EVER mistreats you, all you have to do is say the word and I'll do the honors of beating him to a bloody pulp!"

Smiling weakly, Gabriella leaned forward and kissed his cheek, "You're the best, Troy."

"I'm only stating the obvious."

"Troy, I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I didn't know you'd get that angry, so I'm sorry." she told him.

"Hey, it's ok, Gabi. In fact, I'm glad you did, because you were being honest with me." he said.

"In that case, then why have you been avoiding me?" she questioned.

"I was mad, but then I realized that you were being honest with me, which is something that none of my friends ever were with me. Up until the musical auditions, no matter what I did, they followed whether they liked it or not." he explained.

"You're not still mad then?"

"I could never stay mad at you, Gabi." he answered, "By the way, Gabi, I accidentally told Jen about what happened yesterday between us, and now she thinks you're jealous. I know it's absurd, but she is really convinced that you are, but I know you're not, right?"

"Of course not! I mean, you're my best friend, why would I be jealous?" she lied as a few more tears ran down her cheeks, "I love you and I care a lot about you, as my friend. I just want you to be happy, but I really don't think Jen is actually making you happy. Like you told me, you need someone who will treat you right. I've talked to Jen one-on-one before, and I really don't think she's your type."

"When did you guys talk?"

"That doesn't matter now." she quickly said, "I uh, I need to get home, so I'll talk to you later, ok?"

"Uh, want me to walk you home?" he asked her.

"Nah, that's ok." she answered, "But thanks anyway. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Ok, bye, Gabriella." he said as he watched her walk away.

"What was that all about?" Troy turned around to see his angry girlfriend standing not too far away.

"Uh, it was nothing, babe. Gabi was just really upset so I was trying to comfort her, that's all." he answered, hoping she didn't hear their entire conversation.

"I heard the whole thing, Troy! You've definitely given her the wrong idea this time!" she said.

"Don't worry, Jen, Gabriella loves me as a friend, nothing more. You heard her." he pointed out.

"She was lying, Troy! Like she said, we were talking earlier, and she told me that she is in love with you, and that she wants to break us up!"

"Gabriella isn't like that, Jen!"

"She's just putting on a sweet and innocent act on to fool you! Don't you find it strange that she just happened to be running past you while crying? She knows you well enough to know that you'd come after her! That's why she did it, not because of what someone said! In fact, she probably made the whole thing up."

"Gabriella would never do that!" he denied, although he knew she had a point.

Jen let out a frustrated sigh, "Fine, but I refuse to be put on the backburner behind her any longer, so you have a choice to make. Me or her?"

"Don't you think that's a bit extreme? I care about both of you, I can't just pick one!" he said.

"Troy, I'm your girlfriend, she's just a girl." Jen told him, "Friends come and go, so it's time to move on with your life. She'll just get a boyfriend and forget you exist, so why not save yourself the trouble?"

Troy sighed, once again knowing that she had a point. He didn't want to lose Gabriella, but he had a choice to make. He knew that one of these days, he would be forced to make this decision, but he didn't know it would be this hard. His decision was final, he just hoped that it was the right one.

"I choose you."

* * *

Ok, I know you all want to kill Troy and Jen right about now, am I right? All I will say as far as things getting better is maybe, maybe not. You'll just have to keep reading to find out. The reason why I did this is because I'm sick of reading stories where Troy makes the right decision right off the bat (no offense of those of you who write them). In my opinion, it's getting really cliché and I'm trying not to follow the flow. 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"Oh what should I say? Gabriella, we can't be friends anymore because of Jen?" Troy had been trying to figure out the perfect way to let Gabriella down gently about him choosing Jen over her, but so far, all he could come up with he knew would upset her worse than anything. It was now Monday morning; he spent the entire weekend thinking about what to say. He felt bad about the situation, and he knew that Gabriella may never forgive him, but he loved Jen and he was willing to do anything for her, even if it meant not being able to speak to his best friend. 

Making his way to his locker, Troy found one of the two people he didn't want to talk to at the moment standing there.

"Hey, babe." Jen greeted him, giving him a quick kiss.

"Uh, hey, Jen." he greeted unenthusiastically and hesitently kissed her back.

"What's wrong?" she asked him worriedly, noticing the melancholy expression on his face.

"N-nothing, nothing. I'm just tired, that's all." Troy lied.

"So, did you tell her?" she asked.

"Tell who what?" he questioned, although he knew what she was referring to.

"Tell Gabriella that you guys can't be friends anymore!" she said exasperatedly.

"Oh, that." Troy said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "Don't worry, I will as soon as I see her."

"Good." she said and glanced up at the clock, "I've got to meet a friend of mine, but I'll see you later, ok?"

Troy nodded and watched as she ran off.

"Hey, Troy!" Troy turned around and found the one person he planned to avoid until later, much to his dismay.

"Gabi, hey." he greeted, forcing a smile, "Um, so are you feeling better about what happened Friday?"

Smiling, Gabriella nodded, "Thanks to you."

"Uh, that's good." Troy said as the pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach worsened.

'_I guess it's now or never.'_ he thought, "Gabriella, can you come with me for a minute? I really need to tell you something."

"Uh, sure, Troy." she answered and he led her to their spot.

The walk was silent. Troy was still unsure as to ho he would tell Gabriella the truth. As they drew closer to their destination, the lump in his throat grew bigger, knowing that no matter how he said it, he would still cause her pain which wasn't what he wanted.

Nervously, Gabriella bit her bottom lip. Based on the way Troy was slouched down and the way he looked when she found him, she figured that something bad was about to happen and it scared her a little.

"I guess you're wondering why I brought you up here, right?" Troy started once they arrived, not once turning to look at her.

"Yea." she answered quietly, as a small tear glided down her cheek, for she had a feeling she knew where this was going.

"You know that I care a lot about you. You know I love you like a sister, right?"

"Uh huh." she answered nervously, wishing he would come out and tell her what was wrong.

"And you know I also love Jen, who means a lot to me." Troy continued, easing his way into the subject as best as he could.

Though he couldn't see it, Gabriella's eyes started to fill with tears.

"Yea, I know." she answered, nearly inaudible.

"Gabi, you introduced me into a world that I never imagined myself to be involved with. You opened my eyes along with the rest of the school's eyes and showed us, especially me, that you don't have to stick to where you think you belong. You helped me prove to the school that there was more to me than met the eye. For that, Gabriella, I believe thanks in order."

"You're welcome?" she said, obviously a bit confused.

Turning around to face her, Troy noticed the confusion etched all over her face and figured he needed to come right out and say it.

"Troy, is there something wrong?" she worriedly asked when he didn't speak for a few seconds.

Troy wrapped his arms around her, knowing that it would be the last time he would be able to hold her.

"Jen saw us in the hall on Friday and got mad, so she made me choose between her and you." he started.

He didn't have to say it, for Gabriella already knew who he chose and it definitely wasn't her. Tears began forming in the corners of her eyes as the bad feeling in the pit of her stomach grew bigger.

"Y-you chose her, right?" she questioned quietly, wishing he would choose her, though she knew it would never happen. She was never meant to be with Troy, she figured.

Troy sighed sadly, "I love you, Gabriella, but I also love Jen. I wish I didn't have to choose between you guys, but sadly, I do. I'm extremely sorry to have to do this, Gabriella. You're a special girl, and I'm sure that you'll make some lucky guy extremely happy."

Angrily, Gabriella pushed him away from her as tears of hurt and anger poured down her face, "I-I guess not all of us can be perfect like Jen."

"Gabi, don't--"

"Only my real friends can call me Gabi." she snapped, cutting him off, "You always said that you loved me like a sister, but most guys I know would choose their sister over their girlfriend."

"Gabriella, I'm sorry! I really am!" he told her, wishing she wouldn't be so mad, but he knew this would most likely happen.

"Save it, Troy." she said, now more hurt than angry, "I just hope that you and Jen can live happily ever after now that I'm gone."

"Gabriella, I know you hate me, and you have every right."

She shook her head, "I could never hate you. If anything, I hate myself."

"But, you didn't do anything!"

"Exactly! I always thought in the back of my mind that Jen was only one of your little flings and nothing more! I wanted to believe that you would someday come to me, and somehow fall for me like the way I've been falling for you since the night I met you!" she started, figuring it was now or never, "The truth is, I love you, but not as a friend, and certainly not as a brother. And, when you love somebody, especially the way I love you, sometimes you have to let them go, no matter how much it hurts."

With that said, Gabriella bolted through the doors and back down to the school, leaving Troy completely dumbfounded.

"Did she just…" his mind drifted back to the conversation they just had, "She couldn't have!"

* * *

With tears beginning to block her vision, Gabriella ran as far away from the science lab as she could, only stopping when she tripped and fell flat on her face. 

'_This day just keeps getting better.'_ she thought sarcastically. Looking up, she found herself right in front of the Wildcats' mural, right in front of Troy's picture.

"Well now I guess I'm falling for him figuratively and now even literally." she said aloud, blinking back the tears threatening to fall.

Picking herself up off the ground, Gabriella continued to stare at the painting, mainly at Troy. No matter how hard she tried, she found it impossible to be mad at him, even if he broke her heart once again.

Choking back a sob, Gabriella quietly started to sing,

"_You're the reason for the teardrops on my guitar_

_The only one who's got enough of me to break my heart_

_You're the song in the car I keep singing, don't know why I do  
You're the time taken up, but there's never enough  
And you're all that I need to fall into…"_

The late bell sounded throughout the school. Gabriella groaned, knowing that Ms. Darbus would give her detention to top off her already miserable morning.

* * *

Staring down at the ground, Troy gingerly walked to homeroom. He felt terrible for hurting Gabriella and he wished that he didn't have to cut her loose, especially now that he knew the truth about her feelings. 

A pair of hands reached around Troy's head and covered his eyes, causing him to stop suddenly.

"Guess who?"

"Hmm…. That's a hard one…" Troy started, toying with the girl, "Could it be… Jen?"

"Maybe." she replied as Troy turned around.

"Someone sounds in a better mood." he told her and she gave him a peck on the lips.

"That's because I know that my super sweet boyfriend loves me so much that he got rid of his jealous friend." she said. Troy was silent for a few seconds, a guilty expression written all over his face, "You did get rid of her, right?"

"Uh…yea, but I just don't think that was the best thing I could've done." he answered and sighed, "Jen, I've never seen her that upset. I-I didn't think she would take it that hard. I mean, she's my best friend!"

"Was your best friend." Jen corrected, "And, baby, don't worry about her. She'll get over it and move on."

Troy sighed again, "I guess you're right, but I still feel really bad."

"Troy, you have me now, remember? You don't need her." Jen told him, placing her hands firmly on his shoulders, "You, along with her, need to move past that friendship and forget that it ever existed."

Just as Troy was about to protest, the bell rang, indicating that they were late for homeroom.

"I'll talk to you later, Troy!" she said and gave him another quick peck on the lips before running off to the other side of the school, "And, think about what I said."

Shoving his hands down deep into his pockets, Troy started to go to homeroom. He was already late, so he decided that there was no use rushing, for no matter how late he was, Ms. Darbus would still lecture him and give him detention.

Looking up at the ceiling, Troy thought about the conversation he had with Gabriella less than three days before. Everything he told her came straight from his heart, but after today, he knew that there was no chance she would ever believe it.

Standing outside the door, Troy hesitated a moment before going inside, knowing that he'd receive an earful from Ms. Darbus for being late.

Just as Troy was about to go in, he heard footsteps coming from around the corner. Turning around, Troy was surprised to see Gabriella. The lump in his throat came back when he saw her once soft, beautiful, chocolate-brown eyes had turned bloodshot from crying.

Gabriella noticed that Troy standing in front of the door looking at her. Willing herself not to look at him, Gabriella walked right in front of him without saying a word and went inside the classroom.

"Miss Montez, you're late!" Ms. Darbus said the very second her foot met the carpeted room.

"Um, I-I'm sorry, Ms. Darbus, it won't happen again, I promise." she replied quietly, feeling as though someone outside the classroom was staring at her.

"I still have to give you detention." she said and started filling out a detention slip.

"Um, Ms. Darbus, it's my fault she's late, so if anyone should get detention, it should be me, not her." Troy said, now standing a few feet behind Gabriella.

"You're both late, so I'm afraid I'll have to give both of you detention." Ms. Darbus told them, "Now go to your seats please."

They did as they were told and sat down, not saying a single word to one another.

Gabriella sighed, knowing that today was definitely not her day.

* * *

I'm hoping this chapter turned out alright. I have some good news for those of you interested. I don't know how many of you know this already, but there's a High School Musical book series out now, and as far as I know, the first two books are out now. I already read both of them, and they're good, except both books made me want to smack Troy and Sharpay, but other than that, they're good. Well, anyways, thanks for reviewing! 


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.

* * *

"Gabi, what's up with you and Troy?" Taylor asked, sitting down beside her during lunch. Normally, they would've sat with the guys and Kelsi, but after the incident earlier, Gabriella wanted as far away from Troy as possible. 

"He made his choice." Gabriella said sadly as she used her fork to absentmindedly play with her peas, her mind was elsewhere.

"What do you mean by 'he made his choice'?" Taylor asked her.

"Jen forced him to choose between me or her, and he chose her, so we're done." Gabriella answered.

Taylor's jaw dropped in shock. "I can't believe he would do that!"

"I know, Taylor, but I'll get over it." she said, although she knew that it would take forever to do so.

"What did you say to him?"

"I told him that I guess we can't all be perfect like Jen, and that I hope they live happily ever after now that I'm out of his life." she answered and sighed.

"Is that all?" Taylor questioned, knowing that Gabriella was hiding something.

Gabriella shook her head. "I told him that I love him."

"And he said…"

"And he said nothing." she answered.

Taylor shook her head disgustedly. "That boy has major problems. I can't believe he would chose someone who's only after him for his school status over someone who actually loves him."

"So that's all Jen's after?" Gabriella asked, her eyebrow raised.

Taylor nodded. "That's what I've heard, but Troy's too blind to see it."

"Yeah, well that's his problem." Gabriella said coldly. "He'll have to find out the hard way. Maybe she'll hurt him as much as he hurt me."

"Is that really what you want to happen?" Taylor asked her.

Gabriella thought for a moment before shaking her head and sighing. "I still love him, of course I don't really want to see him hurting. I just don't think it's fair that I'm the only one that's getting crapped on. Maybe it would teach him a lesson if he found out the truth about her."

"You have detention with him today, don't you?"

Gabriella groaned. "Don't remind me."

* * *

"Yo, dude, you've been acting different today. Something up?" Chad asked Troy at the very same time as Taylor and Gabriella's conversation went on. 

"Uh, no, no, everything fine." Troy answered, but Chad knew better than to believe him.

"Then do you mind telling me what's up with Taylor and Gabriella not sitting with us?" he asked.

Troy sighed. "Fine. Jen made me chose between her and Gabriella, and I chose Jen. Happy?"

Chad looked at him in astonishment. "Dude, I thought you loved Gabriella?"

Troy sighed sadly. "I did love her."

"You may not realize this now, Troy, but you've just made the biggest mistake you'll ever make." Chad said sternly.

Troy stood up, taking his tray with him. "Look, Chad, I really don't want to talk about this right now."

"Fine, but promise me you'll that you'll think about who your real friends are, and that list certainly doesn't include Jen." Chad told him as Troy walked away without another word.

* * *

Gabriella slowly walked down the hall after school to the drama classroom for detention. She saw Troy walking from the opposite direction. He looked at her for a moment, but quickly adverted his gaze back down to the ground and continued walking. Sighing, Gabriella opened the door and walked in, him following. 

"Okay, you two. I need you to carry this stuff down to the auditorium." Ms. Darbus instructed.

Gabriella took a semi-large stack of papers and walked out of the room, never once looking at Troy, who grabbed a box of materials and followed her.

While walking down the hall, Gabriella felt Troy staring at her, making her rather uncomfortable.

Once she reached the stairs, she shrieked when her foot miss a step and she started falling. The papers went flying everywhere, but before her body hit the ground, she felt a pair of strong arms grab her from behind and pull her up. The person whirled her around, but when she raised her head, her lips accidentally brushed up against another pair of lips. Gabriella's eyes widened with horror when she realized that it was Troy who had caught her. She hastily pulled away from him and started picking up the papers without saying a word to him.

Troy stood in shock for a moment. He couldn't believe that their lips had just touched, but he had to admit, he liked it. It felt different than all the times he and Jen had kissed. Compared to what just happened between he and Gabriella, it almost made Jen's kisses seem dull and ordinary. '_Thank God Jen's not here'_, he thought and started helping Gabriella pick up the papers.

Gabriella reached for the last of the papers, but Troy was simultaneously reaching for the same one. Their hands met in the center, but either one pulled away. Their eyes bore deeply into the other's, and Troy started unknowingly leaning closer to her, but Gabriella quickly broke out of his gaze and grabbed the paper and stood up.

"I need those." she said, pointing to the papers in his hands, which he hesitantly gave to her and she started walking away.

"Gabriella!" he called after her, but she just continued walking, refusing to let him make a fool out of her any longer. "Wait!"

Gabriella stopped and turned around, her face showing no emotion. "You made your choice."

Troy ran his hand through his hair in frustration as he watched her walk further down the hall to the auditorium. He had finally realized that, for once in his life, Chad was right. He had made the biggest mistake in his entire life, but now, it was too late to fix it. Gabriella was already done with him, and he had no one but himself to blame. He just wished that somehow, same way, he could have another chance to make it up to her and put this whole thing behind them, but that was impossible.

* * *

From not too far away, Jen stood, angrily watching the entire exchange between the two. She thought that by Gabriella not being in his life, Troy would forget her, but all it had done was make him fall further in love with Gabriella, and less into her. She needed to stop this, and she knew the perfect way to do it, but she needed help.

* * *

"Sharpay, can I speak to you for a minute?" Jen asked her the following morning before homeroom. 

Sharpay raised her eyebrow in confusion for a moment, wondering why Jen was talking to her, but then she smiled. "What?"

"Troy is still after that nerdy girl, so I was wondering if you could do me a favor and break them apart to the point where they won't even think of speaking to each other." Jen said.

"What makes you think I would want to do it?" Sharpay questioned.

Jen thought for a moment then smiled. "Because if they aren't together, then the rest of the musicals are yours and your brother's for the taking."

Sharpay liked the sound of no competition, especially no _good_ competition. " It's a deal."

* * *

"You kissed?!" Taylor's jaw dropped in shock once Gabriella told her about what happened in detention the day before. 

"Well, it technically wasn't a kiss. Our lips just brushed against each other's." Gabriella denied, either paying much attention the the murmors and gossip going on around them.

"Gabriella, your lips touched, therefore, you kissed!" Taylor told her frustrated, but then smirked. "Was it any good?"

"Huh?" she questioned, unsure of what she meant.

"The kiss, was it good?" Taylor asked her again, watching as her friend's face went completely red.

"Uh, I really don't want to answer that." Gabriella said quickly.

"C'mon, Gabi, it couldn't have been that bad." Taylor teased.

Gabriella sighed and gave in. "Fine. I liked it."

"And…"

"And I'm getting tired of being interrogated by a certain someone over a measly, little kiss." Gabriella finished. "Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get to homeroom before I get detention again."

Taylor sighed, "Fine, let's go."

"Wait!" A girl said, frantically running up to them, so they stopped and looked at her. "Did you hear that Jenifer McNamara is cheating on her boyfriend, Troy Bolton?"

"Huh?" both of them were in a state of shock.

"Who told you?" Gabriella aked her.

"One of my friend's told me, but I don't know who told her." the girl said.

"Uh, thanks for telling us." Taylor said as the girl left. Taylor and Gabriella looked at each other for a moment.

"Do you think it's true?" Gabriella asked her friend.

Taylor shrugged. "I gues we'll find out sooner or later."

When they got to homeroom and in, they found Troy talking to Sharpay, but he didn't seem too happy. The girls shrugged it off and went to their seats in the back and sat down.

A few minutes later, Troy approached Gabriella, his facial expression was full of anger.

"We need to talk."

* * *

AN: So sorry for the long update! The next chapter should be up sooner. If nothing else, expect at least one update between now and May 3lst. I promise I'll try to update at least once, preferably 2 or 3 chapters, but the way my schedule is right now, I'll try to update at least once in between that time frame. But, anyway, I owe a big thanks to my friend, corbinbleuis4evasexc for giving me the idea with Jen and Sharpay breaking the two up even further. Anyway, thanks for the reviews! 


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

* * *

"Why would you want to talk to me?" Gabriella questioned. 

"I know it was you." he said coolly.

"Huh?" she questioned, confused.

"Come with me." he said and she stood up, still confused.

"I still don't know what's going on-" she started when they were out of the room, but Troy interrupted her.

"I know you're the one spreading rumors about Jen and I!" he said angrily.

"But I didn't!" Gabriella said fearfully. Troy had never snapped at her like this, and quite frankly, it scared her.

"Yeah, right, Gabriella," he said, unconvinced. "You're just jealous because I chose Jen."

Gabriella looked at him, shocked. "Jealous? Why would I be jealous of _her_?"

"You're the one who said you were in love with me!" he pointed out.

"Key word: were!" she snapped. "After the way you're acting right now, not so much!"

Troy opened his mouth to say something, but before he could, someone ran up to him, panting.

"Troy! Come quick!" it was Jen. There were tears falling from her eyes, but Gabriella knew they were fake, but she fooled Troy.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Troy asked her, wrapping his arms around her comfortingly.

Gabriella rolled her eyes at the sight before her, but she felt a tinge of jealousy after all.

"O-on the g-girl's mirror, there's more," she said. "P-please come?"

Troy glared at Gabriella before turning back to Jen.. "I guess I'll go, but only as long as no one sees me."

"Th-they won't. Just come with me." Jen said and they started walking away, but Troy suddenly stopped.

"Gabriella, you're coming, too," he told her.

Gabriella sighed and followed, figuring she could try one last time to defend herself.

* * *

"See?" Jen said, pointing to the center mirror in the girls' bathroom. There, in bright red lipstick, read 'Jennifer McNamara is no more than a tramp and a man-stealer. Troy Bolton doesn't really love her. It's called lust! That's all!--Gabriella Montez' 

Gabriella gulped, knowing that now Troy was definitely going to snap this time, even though she had nothing in it.

"Gabriella, I can't believe you would do this!" Troy yelled, fuming.

"But I didn't-"

"Give it up! It's obvious it was you!" Troy yelled.

"And look here, I found the tube of lipstick used." Jen said, picking up the lipstick tube sitting on the sink. "It even has your name on it." Jen pointed at the initials on it, GMM, Gabriella Maria Montez.

Troy glared coldly at Gabriella. "Get out of my life. I want you to stay away from me, from Jen, and from all of my friends."

Gabriella nodded, choking back the tears that she knew she was about to cry. When he used to look at her, his eyes were soft and caring, now they were cold and emotionless. She felt alone, and knew that within a matter of hours, the entire school would turn against her once they found out.

The more she looked into his eyes, the more broken she felt inside. Without another word, Gabriella ran sobbing out of the bathroom.

Troy felt a pang of guilt in the pit of his stomach as he watched her leave. He knew Gabriella better than that, and knew that she was better than that. He knew she would never try to hurt or insult anyone else, no matter how much she disliked them. But then again, maybe he didn't know her as well as he thought. Maybe she did do it after all. How would he know? It's not like he was there, he thought.

* * *

Gabriella ran down the hall, tears cascading down her face, not caring if someone gave her detention or not. She didn't realize it, but she was about to run into somebody. 

"Whoa, there, Gabriella, where's the fire?" Gabriella recognized the voice to be that of Chad Danforth, but she just kept running as though she hadn't heard him. He was Troy's best friend, so there was no way of him believing her either.

Chad walked away, confused. A few seconds later, he saw Troy come into sight.

"Yo, dude, what's up?" Chad greeted him.

"Everything." he answered. "Gabriella started spreading rumors about Jen and I."

"Let me guess, you yelled at her?" he said.

Troy nodded. "How did you know?"

"She just ran past crying." he answered. "How do you know she did it?"

"Jen found writing in the girls' bathroom written in bright red lipstick, and the tube had Gabriella's initials." he answered and sighed. "She kept saying she didn't though."

"Maybe she didn't," Chad said.

"But all signs point to her," Troy said.

"Just what exactly did you tell her before she ran off?" Chad asked.

Troy sighed. "I told her to stay out of my life and to stay away from me, from Jen, and from my friends."

"I don't think that was the smartest move, there, Captain." Chad said and started walking towards his next class.

* * *

For the rest of the day, Gabriella avoided everyone. Everyone she past would shoot her dirty looks, snicker behind her back, and some would even say things right to her face. For once, she was happy that it was the end of the school day. It had taken everything to not start crying again from all the insults, but they didn't hurt nearly as worse as what Troy had told her. 

Quickly, Gabriella put her books away in her locker, only taking what was needed. As she went to grab a book, she felt someone grab her arm. She turned around to find Jen, smirking at her.

"What do you want now?" Gabriella snapped. "You got what you wanted. Troy's all yours, happy now?"

"I don't want you anywhere near him, got it?" she said coolly.

"I wouldn't talk to him even if he wanted me to." Gabriella replied.

"Good." Jen said and walked off.

Gabriella rolled her eyes and pulled a few more books out of her locker.

* * *

The next day started out the same way the day before had ended for Gabriella. She practically ran to homeroom to escape the gossip and name-calling, but before she reached the room, she ran into someone, knocking them both over. 

"I'm so sorry! I didn't see where I was going! I'm sorry-" Gabriella said frantically. She found the person she had run into was a boy who looked to have around a six-foot frame, dirty-blonde hair, and the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.

"That's all right. It happens all the time," the boy replied, smiling warmly at her.

Gabriella looked at him, confused. He was supposed to treat her badly, just like everyone else who found out about the rumors, not treat her nicely, unless he didn't know yet.

"Uh, yeah, yeah, I guess it does," she said, smiling back.

"Oh, by the way, I'm Blake Smith. I just moved here from Utah." he said, standing up.

"I'm Gabriella Montez. I just moved here a few months ago myself, so if you need anything, you can just come to me," she said sweetly as he extended his hand to help her up, which she gladly excepted.

"I'll be sure to do that," Blake said, smiling in a way that caused Gabriella's heart to melt, which had only occured when Troy smiled at her.

"Um, so, who do you have for homeroom?" Gabriella asked him.

"Some lady by the name of Ms. Darbus." he answered.

"Oh perfect! That's who I have, too! We can go together," Gabriella said and showed him the way.

"Oh, by the way, is your cell phone turned off?" she asked him suddenly. "That is, if you have one."

"Yeah, I have one and it's turned off, why?" he asked.

"Because on my first day, I got detention all because someone tried to call my cell phone." she answered.

Blake gave her a confused look. "Wouldn't they have known not call while you were in school?"

"That's just it, the person who called me was in the same room, so he got in in trouble as well." she answered, remembering that day like it was only yesterday.

Blake laughed. "That was real bright, wouldn't you say?"

Gabriella couldn't help but laugh, too. "Yeah, that was really smart."

"So, since you said it was a guy, does that mean you have a boyfriend?" Blake asked her curiously.

"Uh...no, he was my friend. I've never had a boyfriend." she answered.

Blake looked at her in disbelief. "A girl like you has never had a boyfriend?"

Gabriella shook her head. "No, I've just never found the right guy. I thought I did, in one of my friends, but he just turned out to be a total let-down."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Blake noticed the saddened look on her face. "Did it just happen recently?"

Gabriella nodded. "A few days ago, actually."

"Hey, why don't you meet me for lunch today and you can tell me all about it." he suggested.

Gabriella smiled gratefully. "Sure, I'd love to."

The two got to homeroom, where Gabriella took Blake and introduced him to Ms. Darbus, who put him in an empty seat in the back.

Taylor turned around to see the dazed expression on Gabriella's face and smirked.

"I see someone has a thing for the new guy." she said, making Gabriella blush.

"Uh, no, he's just really nice." she denied.

Taylor rolled her eyes. "Funny. The only other person who's had the ability to make you blush is Troy, and you like him-"

"Liked him." Gabriella corrected.

Taylor sighed. "Fine, liked him, so now the mention of the new guy is making you blush, which tells me that you like him!"

Gabriella sighed sadly. "No, it's just that, as of right now, you, Blake, and Kelsi are about the only ones treating me like a person right now."

"That's because Kelsi and I know you better than that. And, Blake's new, but I'm sure he wouldn't believe you did it either." Taylor said. "Troy's just being a lunkhead, that's all. I'm sure that if his mind wasn't Jen-obsessed goop right now, he wouldn't believe it, either."

Gabriella smiled at that comment. "Hopefully."

* * *

AN: Did you like that chapter? Seemingly everyone thought that Gabriella should get a boyfriend and have Troy get jealous, well that was pretty much my plan from the beginning, except I have a few othertwists and turns in mind to go with it, which you'll find out eventually. But, will it end Troyella? For that is the question. 


	8. Chapter 8

Sorry about the long updates, but since it's close to summer break, my teachers have been bogging me down with loads of work and information needed for the finals in 2 weeks, which I am the least bit prepared for, but anyways, here's chapter eight!

Disclaimer: I own Blake and Jen, that's all.

* * *

"So, Gabriella, how's the food taste here?" Blake asked her, sitting down next to her in the cafeteria.

"It's okay, I guess," she answered, taking a bite of her sandwich.

"I'll take your word for it," he said and took a bite of his own sandwich.

"Uh, hey, Gabriella, I have a question for you," he started after a few minutes.

"Ask away," she replied.

"I noticed that all day people seemed to be treating you pretty bad. Why's that?"

Gabriella sighed sadly and began her story, "It all started a few months ago. My best friend at the time was Troy Bolton, and I guess you could say that I had fallen in love with him."

"So that's the guy you mentioned earlier, right?" Blake asked her.

Gabriella nodded. "Things were really great between us and we were really close. Then, this Jen girl showed up in his life and things started going downhill from there. Troy started spending less and less time with me. About a week ago, things started getting a little better, but then Friday, everything fell further apart. Jen confronted me, telling me that Troy didn't love me and that I should stay away from him."

"She sounds like a witch," Blake commented.

"Believe me, she's been worse," she said. "Then, she made Troy choose between her and me, and he chose her. Monday, he told me that we can't be friends anymore."

"This guy sounds like a real jerk if you ask me," Blake said.

Gabriella shook her head as a small tear fell down her cheek. "It's not his fault. He was the sweetest guy I knew before he got hooked up with Jen. Maybe if I would've told Troy how I felt sooner, then maybe he'd still be the same guy I once knew. It's my fault."

Blake reached across the table and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. "It's definitely not your fault. That jerk just didn't know how lucky he was."

Gabriella stared nervously down at his hand which was still touching her face. Troy was the only one she had ever trusted enough to get that close to her, but Troy was also the cause of her pain. If she trusted Blake as much as she did Troy, would he hurt her too, she wondered.

"Um, Blake…." Gabriella started unsurely.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Blake said and withdrew his hand.

"It's okay," she replied and smiled.

"So, what else happened?" Blake asked her.

"Then, yesterday, someone, probably Jen, started spreading these rumors about her and Troy and pinned the blame on me, and now the entire school, including Troy, thinks I did it! The only ones treating me like a human right now are you and my two other friends, my true friends." Gabriella sighed sadly. "Troy told me to stay out of his life and to stay away from Jen and his friends."

"Maybe you're better off without him," Blake told her. "I mean, why would you want to be around someone that'll just cause you heartache?"

"Maybe you're right," she said.

* * *

"So, dude, did you meet the new guy?" Chad asked Troy once he was seated at their table.

"The new guy in homeroom?" Troy asked him.

"Yeah, him."

"Nah, I haven't had time to talk to anyone, why?"

"Seems to me that he's already got a thing for Gabriella," Chad pointed out, looking in their direction from across the cafeteria.

"What?" Troy asked, making sure he heard right.

"Yeah, seems like he's into Gabriella. See for yourself," he said, pointing in the direction of Blake and Gabriella.

Troy looked and found that what Chad said was right. Troy felt a pang of jealousy as he watched the two talk. He hadn't seen her that happy since a few months ago, right before he started dating Jen.

That's when he remembered the real reason as to why he started dating Jen. He only went out with her because he thought that Gabriella didn't love him as anymore than a friend. Then, when he told her about Jen, her attitude changed. She was no longer as happy and she seemed to be depressed all the time, even when she was with him. Her eyes always showed her depression; they never resembled her happiness because she was never happy. It hadn't occurred to him until then that the reason he fell out of love with her was because of Jen.

"Yo, dude, you okay?" Zeke asked him, snapping him back into reality.

Before Troy could respond, someone came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hey, baby," Jen greeted him.

"Uh, Jen, can I talk to you for a moment, in private?" Troy asked her.

"Sure, what's wrong?"

"Nothing, nothing, just come with me." he said and led her out of the cafeteria.

* * *

"Here we are," Troy announced as they walked up the steps of the garden. He had been meaning to show it to Jen, but because of Gabriella, he never did. This was he and Gabriella's spot, but now that she was out of his life, he figured he might as well show Jen.

Jen looked around in confusion. "Why are we here of all places?"

"This is the spot that I always come to when I need to clear my head." he explained. "I used to come here alone, but after I met Gabriella, we started meeting here almost everyday."

"Her? Why her?"

"Because Gabriella and I didn't have much time alone together, but we would try to make a point to meet here everyday, even if it was only for a few minutes," he answered.

Jen rolled her eyes, but Troy didn't see it. "What's so great about it?"

This comment made Troy snap. "This happens to be my favorite place to be for your information! It's the only place that I can actually relax and escape from the rest of the world!"

Jen was a bit taken aback by his sudden tone. "Okay, shesh. You don't have get mad about it."

Troy sat down on the bench and sighed. "Look, I'm sorry, I've just been having an off afternoon, that's all."

Jen sat down beside him. "Don't worry, Troy, it'll get better."

"Do you think I was too hard on Gabriella yesterday? I mean, there's not enough evidence to prove it was her. I mean, Sharpay's the one who told me about her spreading the rumors, and she isn't exactly Miss Reliable, and anyone could have the initials of GMM-"

"Troy, it was her! All signs point to her!" Jen said, exasperated.

"How can you be so sure? You weren't there, now were you?"

"Troy! She's doing it to try to break us up! She's still in love with you!"

"Not," Troy said miserably, thinking back to what he had seen earlier. "She's interested in that new guy. Besides, she's not like that. I know her better than that,"

Jen opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the bell rang.

"Look, Jen, I have to go. I'll talk to you later, okay?" Troy said and walked away, leaving Jen speechless.

* * *

"So, would you like to go out with me, say, Friday night?" Blake asked Gabriella as they started walking out of the cafeteria.

"You mean on a date?" Gabriella asked, trying to hide her excitement. Even though she had just met him that morning, she liked Blake and he seemed to be someone who wasn't going to be a total jerk.

"If you want, it could be just a friendly date. I understand why you wouldn't want to jump into a relationship so soon-"

"Um, I'm not sure. Let me get back to you tomorrow, okay?" she answered.

Blake nodded. "I guess I can wait."

* * *

"Hi, mom, I'm home!" Gabriella called to her mother after she got home from school.

"Someone sounds in a better mood. What happened?" Ms. Montez asked.

Now that Gabriella thought about it, she never did come out and tell her mother what had happened between her and Troy. Figuring that now was as good of a time as any, she began to tell her exactly what happened, "Well, do you remember how I told you that Troy started dating someone else?"

"Yes, and remember how I told you that it wouldn't last very long?" she said.

Gabriella shook her head. "Their relationship at this rate will last longer than our friendship. His girlfriend made him chose between us and he chose her, so now I can't even have him as a friend."

"Oh, honey, it'll be all right. I'm sure Troy will realize his mistake and you two can put the whole thing behind you," she assured her.

Gabriella shook her head. "He hates me. His girlfriend tricked him into believing that I spread all sorts of rumors about them, when I didn't! He yelled at me and told me to stay out of his life." A small tear ran down her cheek as she said these words, "Honestly, I don't think I even want him as a friend anymore. He's turned into a total jerk, and it scares me a bit. It's not him. He's not the same Troy I fell in love with, and until that Troy comes back, I don't want to be anywhere near him. In fact, even if he comes back to reality, I don't know if I would still want to be around him."

Ms. Montez nodded understandingly. "Do what's best for you, even if that means cutting him loose and moving on with your life. If you don't, you'll stay miserable, and I'm sure you don't want that."

Gabriella nodded slowly. "I guess so."

"Is that all that's bothering you?" she asked her.

Gabriella shook her head. "There's more. There's this new guy, Blake. He's really nice and really sweet. We spent most of the day talking, and he asked me out Friday night, but I don't know if I want to. I mean, after everything with Troy, what if Blake turns out to be a jerk, too?"

"Do you want to go?" she asked her.

Gabriella nodded.

"Then go out and have fun for a change. You could use it," Ms. Montez told her.

Gabriella's mouth dropped. "Y-You're letting me go?"

"On two conditions. One: I get to meet him first. Two: be home by nine," she told her.

Gabriella nodded gratefully. "Of course, mom, thanks!"

* * *

"Yo, Troy, you doing anything Friday?" Chad asked him once practice was over for the day.

"I'm taking Jen out to dinner, why?" Troy answered.

Chad rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Dude, don't you spend enough time with her?"

"What is it that you wanted, Chad?" Troy asked, cutting to the chase.

"Well, after practice, Zeke, Jason, and myself were planning on going out for pizza. I wanted to invite you, but since you're busy, I guess not," he answered.

"I would go, but Jen hates it when I cancel our dates," Troy replied.

"Dude, since when has some girl had complete control over you?" he asked.

"She does not control me!" he snapped.

"Okay, so you willingly just blew us, your friends, off for no reason?" Chad questioned.

"Dude, Jen doesn't control me! I could cancel the date and hang out with you, but I don't to!"

"Wasn't it you who just said, and I quote 'I would go, but Jen hates it when I cancel our dates'?" Chad pointed out.

Troy started walking off into the locker room, but Chad continued, "And, Troy, if it wasn't for Jen, would you really do Gabriella the way you've been doing her lately?"

Troy froze in his tracks as the memories of every time he had hurt Gabriella in just the past week flooded his mind. On Thursday, he stormed out just because she was giving him her honest opinion of Jen. On Monday, when he chose Jen over her. Then, just the day before, when he accused her of spreading the rumors even though he already knew it couldn't have been her.

"Yo, dude, are you just going to stand there all day? I'm waiting on an answer," Chad said, snapping Troy out of his thoughts.

Troy turned to look at him, his expression full of sadness and remorse. "I think I made a mistake."

"It's about time you figured it out," Chad told him, glad that he was starting to get his friend back to normal.

"Not just with Gabriella. Go ahead and tell Zeke and Jason that I'm joining you guys for pizza Friday," Troy told him.

"What about Jen?" Chad asked.

"She'll get over it," he answered simply and shrugged.

Chad grinned. "It's nice to have you back, captain."

* * *

AN: Things look like they're getting better, eh? Well, things aren't always as they seem. I mean, what's the fun in having Troy apologize to Gabriella, Gabriella accepting the apology, they grow up, get married and have half a dozen babies? There's no fun in that! Well, for me anyway, hehe. 


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Nothing except Blake and Jen is mine.

* * *

"I'm so bored!" Gabriella said to herself and flopped down onto her bed. She and her mom had just finished eating dinner and she had already finished her homework, leaving her with nothing left to do.

'_Maybe I should call Taylor' _she thought and grabbed her phone from inside her purse.

"Hey, Gabi!" Taylor said from the other line after only two rings.

"How did you know it was me?" Gabriella asked her.

"Caller ID, remember?"

Gabriella mentally smacked herself.

"So, what did you call for?" Taylor asked, changing the subject.

"Do I need a reason to call one of my best friends?"

"Well, uh, no, I guess not, but there's always something up with you. Who is it, Troy or Blake this time?" Taylor asked her, knowing that it had something to do with one or the other.

"Troy who?" Gabriella said a bit coldly.

Taylor could barely keep herself from laughing at her comment. "Never mind. So, what's up with you and Blake?"

"He asked me out!" Gabriella blurted out excitedly.

"Did you say yes?"

"Not yet, but I will when I see him again tomorrow," she answered.

"So, I take it you've already forgotten you-know-who?" Taylor asked her.

Gabriella sighed. "As far as I'm concerned, we were never meant to be in the first place. I couldn't care less what he does."

Before Taylor could respond, something hit against Gabriella's balcony door. Gabriella jumped in surprise and walked over to the door and found someone standing on her balcony. It was the last person she expected to see, but he was also the last person she wanted to see.

"Uh, Taylor, I have to go. I'll call you back later." Gabriella hung up her phone and opened the door.

"What are you doing here?" Gabriella asked coldly.

"Look, I know you're mad at me, and you have every right to be. Just hear me out-"

"Oh, just like how you heard me out before you told me to stay out of you're life, Troy?" she said coldly, her brown eyes glaring at him. "In that case, goodbye!"

Gabriella was about to close the door, but Troy quickly stopped her and opened the door further.

"Gabriella, look, I really screwed up this time, I know I did. But, Gabi, I-"

"Only my _friends_ can call me Gabi," she told him.

Troy sighed. "I never meant to hurt you, Gabriella."

"But you did, Troy! What you've said and done to me hurt worse than you could ever imagine!" she said, her voice now filled with a sense of hurt and betrayal, but she refused to cry over him any longer, especially not now with him standing there in front of her.

"Gabriella, just listen to me-"

"No, you listen!" she said angrily, cutting him off. "I was your friend longer than she has been your girlfriend! You've blown off all of our plans for her, and I made excuses to myself as to why you would want to blow me off for her in order to keep myself from believing that you were simply choosing her over me every single time! But, when you finally did come out and say you chose her, I felt as though someone had knocked the wind right out of me! I loved you first, but as soon as someone better than me showed up, you immediately ditched me! Do you know how that feels, Troy?"

Troy looked down at the ground, incapable of saying anything.

Gabriella sighed sadly and looked to the side, avoiding eye contact with Troy. "Of course you wouldn't. You're Troy Bolton, the most popular guy in school and the captain of the basketball team. Everyone loves you."

"Gabriella, I'm really sorry! I didn't know I was hurting you that badly," Troy said apologetically. "I didn't want to hurt you."

"Then why did you?" she questioned.

Troy shook his head sadly. "Honestly, I don't know why."

Gabriella leaned against the glass door and crossed her arms. "Then how can you apologize to me without knowing why you did what you did?"

"Gabriella, c'mon! We've been through so much together! Why can't we just put this whole thing behind us?"

"Maybe you can, but, Troy, I can't," she answered.

"But you forgave me the first time, when I accidentally said that singing with you meant nothing to me. You forgave me then, right? Why can't you forgive me now?"

"There's a difference," she said.

"How is it different?" he asked.

"The difference is that I forgave you the first time because I could tell you were sorry, and because you actually cared about me," she said, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.

"But, I do still care about you! If I didn't, I wouldn't be standing here begging for forgiveness, now would I?" he pointed out.

"You're only here because you feel guilty, that's all. You're not here because you care about me, it's just your conscience bothering you," she said sadly.

"It's not my conscience, Gabriella," he said. "I'm here because I love you," he said, his voice was soft and quiet, almost in a whisper.

Gabriella was taken aback. Several days ago, she longed to hear him say those very words, but now, they were the last things she wanted him to say.

When Gabriella didn't say anything, Troy used this as his chance to continue. "I don't just love you, Gabriella, I'm in love with you. In fact, I don't think I really ever fell out of love with you."

Although Gabriella was trying hard not to cry, a single tear rolled down her cheek. Troy went to wipe it away, but just as his thumb touched her face, Gabriella quickly slapped his hand away.

"It's too late for that, Troy," she said, coolness filling her voice again.

"Gabriella, it's never too late. I'll do whatever it takes for you to forgive me!" he told her. "I'll even dump Jen."

Gabriella shook her head. "Don't, because it won't do you any good, because there's nothing on earth you could do that would change my mind. I don't love you anymore. I've moved on."

"But, Gabriella, why can't we just go back to being friends? It's better to be friends than be totally separated," he suggested.

Gabriella shook her head. "I told you, Troy, I can't. If you wanted me that bad, you wouldn't have lost me in the first place."

Troy sighed, knowing that there wasn't a thing he could do to convince her that he was sorry. "Then, I guess this is…goodbye."

"Yeah, I guess this is," Gabriella said, trying to hold back her tears, but when she no longer could, she turned around, her back facing him.

"Before I go, there's something else I need to say," he said and took a deep breath, hoping that he got out everything he needed to say. "I hope you find someone who'll treat you better than I could. You're a special girl, Gabriella, and any guy would be lucky to have you. Unfortunately for me, my luck ran out and I messed up. I'm sorry, Gabriella, I really am."

Gabriella didn't say anything; instead, she quickly walked back inside and slammed the door shut behind her, leaving Troy standing there. Troy sighed sadly and started to climb down from the balcony. He wanted to make things right between them and have everything go back to the way it was, only better, but as long as Gabriella continued to be stubborn, that would never happen.

* * *

The following morning, Troy walked miserably into school. He was trying to avoid Jen, knowing that she'd be mad at him for blowing off their plans for this Friday night.

"Hey, Troy!" Troy turned around, only to find Jen standing behind him, smiling sweetly, which Troy could tell was being forced.

"Oh, hey, Jen," Troy said and she gave him a peck on the lips.

"So, when we go out Friday night, should I wear-"

"Um, about that. I sorta made plans with some of the guys Friday night, so can we post-pone our date?" Troy asked, trying to hide his nervousness.

"But, Troy, you promised me first!" Jen wined.

"Yeah, I know, and I'm sorry. It's just that ever since we started dating, I've been seeing less and less of my friends. It's just one date. I mean, I've blown Gabriella off many times to be with you, so I think one date won't kill you," Troy said, mentally kicking himself for bringing Gabriella into it, knowing that she was going to blow up at him.

Jen rolled her eyes. "Fine. I guess it is only one time."

"Uh, thanks for understanding. I've got to get to homeroom, so I'll see you later." Troy was surprised that Jen gave in that easily, but he was glad it didn't erupt into an argument.

"Ok, bye," she said and gave him one last kiss before walking off in the opposite direction.

* * *

"So, Gabriella, are you going to tell Blake your answer?" Taylor asked her that same morning.

Gabriella sighed and shook her head. "I'm not so sure anymore, Taylor. After what Troy did and said last night, I'm not so sure what to do!"

"Wait? You talked to Troy last night?"

Gabriella nodded. "I had to get off the phone wit you last night because he was standing on my balcony. He came over to apologize to me…for everything, and he also told me that he loved me."

Taylor looked around the hall until she found Troy and, as always, Jen kissing. "Gabi, you may want to see this."

"Huh?" Gabriella turned her head in confusion, and once she saw what Taylor was talking about, she felt her slowly healing heart shatter into pieces all over again.

"B-but he said that h-he loves me, not her," Gabriella stuttered.

"Well, it seems to me that he lied to you to get you to forgive him," Taylor said. "Go out with Blake Friday night and have fun. Then, you and Blake can become an official couple, and that'll show Troy just what he's missing."

Gabriella nodded. "Thanks for the suggestion, Tay. I'll go find Blake."

Gabriella walked into homeroom and found Blake sitting at his desk reading. Briskly, she walked over to him and sat down beside him.

"Hi, Blake," Gabriella greeted him quietly.

Blake looked up at her and smiled. "Hey, Gabriella."

"I wanted to let you know that I'd love to go out with you on Friday night," she said, cutting to the chase.

"That's good. What time should I pick you up? Is five okay?" he asked her.

Gabriella nodded. "That's perfect. My mom wants me back by nine."

"Okay, that's fine," he agreed and laughed. "But first, I'll need your address and phone number."

"Oh right!" Gabriella said and slapped her forehead. "I guess that would help, huh?"

"Here's a pen and a piece of paper," Blake said and gave it to her.

"Thanks," she said and started writing down her address. "Would you mind giving me your phone number too so I can call you sometime?"

"Sure," he answered and pulled out another pen and piece of paper and wrote down his phone number.

"Here you go," Gabriella said, handing him her address a few seconds later.

"Thanks, and here's my number. Call me anytime," he told her, handing her his phone number.

"Thanks," she said not noticing the pair of jealous blue eyes watched them from a few feet away.

* * *

AN: Can anyone guess who it is? It's not too hard to figure it out if you've paid any attention whatsoever to this chapter. Anyway, thanks for reviewing! I know the updates seem to be coming later, but now that summer's here, I should have more time to update, so the next chapter should come in a week at the latest. 


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine with the exception of Jen and Blake.

* * *

"Gabriella, it's time to get up!" Ms. Montez called for the umpteenth time Friday morning. "If you can't get up, there'll be no date tonight." 

Gabriella groaned and rolled over, facing her mother. "I was having the most pleasant dream, too."

Ms. Montez chuckled and shook her head. "Who was it this time?"

"What makes you think it was a person?" she asked.

"Gabi, you're always talking or day-dreaming about a boy. Now who was it?"

Gabriella sighed sadly. "It was Troy."

Ms. Montez sat down beside her daughter and pulled her into a warm, motherly embrace. "You still like him, don't you?"

Gabriella nodded, knowing that there was no point in lying to herself any longer. "But, thanks to me, it's too late."

"No, it's not too late," she assured her. "I'm sure that Troy hasn't moved on quite yet either."

"But he has, mom. Ever since he tried to apologize to me on my balcony, he started hanging around Jen more than ever. I can tell that they're both happy." Gabriella sighed.

"Are you sure he's really happy?" Ms. Montez questioned.

"Yeah," she answered quietly, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "I should be happy for him. He's found someone who understands just how good she has it with him."

"Gabi, maybe you should try talking to him. I'm sure Troy would like to talk to you and get this mess straightened out," she told her.

"I'm scared to," Gabriella replied quietly.

"What's there to be scared of?" she asked her.

Gabriella sniffed as a few more tears ran down her face. "What if he hates me after the way I acted? What if he won't talk to me? What if he changed his mind and thinks we're better off separated?"

"If you never try, you'll never know," Ms. Montez said. "And, I'm sure Troy doesn't hate you. He knows he hurt you and it's hard for you to just forgive him like that. But, if he does hate you, then he wasn't worth your time to begin with."

Gabriella sighed, looking down at her feet. "I guess so."

"Now, you need to get ready for school before you get detention for being late, and you can't afford to get detention because you have your date tonight," Ms. Montez said and started to leave the room.

"Oh, wait!" Ms. Montez turned around and found Gabriella running up to her and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Mom."

Ms. Montez chuckled and returned the hug. "Anytime. That's what I'm here for."

* * *

"I hope he's here," Gabriella said to herself before opening the door to Troy's secret hiding spot. She couldn't find him eating lunch in the cafeteria so she figured he would be up there. 

Being careful not to make too much noise, Gabriella opened the door and quietly walked up the first set of steps. She heard noise, which told her someone was up there, but when she looked, she found Troy and Jen making out. Tears started brimming at the corners of her eyes as she turned around and walked out, this time, not caring if she was caught.

Upon hearing footsteps, Troy pulled away from Jen, surprised. Jen looked at him, confused.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Jen asked him.

"Nothing, I just thought I heard something," he answered, staring at the door. "I'm going to go look."

* * *

As soon as Gabriella was out of the garden, she started running down the hall, tears falling freely from her eyes. She could've had him if she wanted, but she gave him up all because she was being stubborn. She had already given him up once, when he and Jen first got together. If she would've only told him then how she felt about him, none of this would've happened and it would've been her up there with him and he would've been kissing and holding her, not Jen. 

Gabriella suddenly ran into something hard. She was about to fall over, but a pair of strong arms grabbed her by the waist, preventing her from falling.

"Sorry, about that," Gabriella said and looked up, only to find that it was Blake whom she had run into.

"We should really stop meeting like this," Blake joked, noticing the tears in her eyes. "What's wrong, Gabriella?"

Gabriella sighed. "Everything."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked her.

Gabriella shook her head. "No, I just want to get out of here."

"Here, I'll walk you back to lunch," he offered.

"Thanks," she said politely and he let go of her waist, only to drape his arm across her shoulders as they started walking back to the cafeteria.

Troy watched the two from afar, feeling his jealousy start to kick in again. He wanted to be the one to hold Gabriella, in fact, he felt that he should've been the one holding her. But, he hurt her and she wouldn't forgive him. In fact, he couldn't forgive himself either.

"Troy?" Troy was snapped out of his thoughts by Jen, who had followed him out.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, you've just been standing there for the last couple minutes or so," she replied.

"Oh, I was just thinking, that's all," he answered, knowing that if he told her the truth, she would get angry and cause a scene.

"So, then you weren't watching Gabriella with that new guy then?" she questioned.

Troy gulped knowing he had been caught. "I was, but not for reasons you think."

"Oh really?" she asked in suspicion.

"I care about Gabriella because she's like a sister to me, and I just don't want to see her get hurt again, like I hurt her," he explained, hoping she would buy into it.

Jen rolled her eyes. "You need to stop worrying about her! She's no longer your problem to deal with! Let her go be with that guy! Who cares if he hurts her, it's not your problem!"

"Who cares if he hurts her?" he repeated, his voice filling with anger that he could no longer hold back. "I care if he hurts her! I care a lot about her, and you're just going to have to live with it, because I'm tired of having to tiptoe around you to get along with you!"

"But, Troy, you don't need her! I'm your girlfriend! Why would you need another girl in your life?" she pointed out.

"If you want to go there, I loved Gabriella before you ever showed up, so why did I need you?" he pointed out, no longer caring if she knew he loved Gabriella or not. "I didn't need you, and I still don't need you!" he yelled so loudly that the people in the hall heard him loud and clear.

Jen wanted to respond, but just as she opened her mouth, Troy quickly cut her off.

"And, for your information, Wednesday night I went to Gabriella's house to apologize, but thanks to you, she wants nothing to do with me! Because of you, I hurt her and now she hates me!"

"Tr-" she started, but Troy still wasn't finished.

"And, I'm tired of you trying to run my life! I rarely see my friends, and you even forced me to get rid of one of my best friends!"

"I didn't make you do anything!" she snapped. "I gave you a choice, me or her, and you chose me!"

"Yeah, because I was blind and thought I was in love with you!" he retorted. "But now I know the truth, and the truth is that you're only after what's best for you and you don't care at all about anyone else! Well, for your information, I'm not at all like that! Unlike you, my heart is not made of ice!"

Before Jen could say anything, Troy decided it was time to finish what never should've been started. "Jen, this is it! We're over!" with this, Troy left, leaving Jen to put the pieces together of what just happened.

* * *

"So, Gabriella, how does pizza sound?" Blake asked her. They were now in his car, driving around town. 

"Sounds great!" she replied, smiling. As much as Gabriella still liked Troy, she also still liked Blake, and at least she knew Blake wouldn't betray her like Troy did, at least, she hoped not.

Blake soon pulled into the parking lot and they got out of the car. As they were walking inside, Blake slipped his hand in hers, giving her a weird feeling in the pit of her stomach, but she chose to ignore it. Being the gentleman that he was, Blake opened the door for her and she said a polite thank you.

"Yo, Gabi, what are you doing here?" Gabriella looked up and saw Chad, Zeke and Jason sitting at a table.

"Oh, hey, guys!" Gabriella greeted them, silently praying that Troy wasn't with them, but she figured he probably had plans with Jen.

"So, are you here on a date?" Zeke asked her, noticing Blake standing behind her.

"Yeah. Guys, this is Blake," she said, turning to Blake. "And, Blake, these are my friends Chad, Zeke, and Jason."

"Uh, hi," Blake greeted unsurely. Based on the looks he was getting from the three, he could tell they already didn't like him.

Chad, Zeke and Jason muttered a quick 'hi' before going back to talking about basketball like always. It wasn't that they didn't like Blake, it was the fact that Blake liked Gabriella that they didn't like. They knew that Troy loved Gabriella, and since he was their best friend, they remained on his side.

"Uh, Blake, I'm going to go freshen up," Gabriella told him.

"What do you want? I'll go ahead and order," he offered.

"I just want regular cheese pizza. Thanks," she answered and started walking towards the bathroom.

"Fancy meeting you here." Just as Gabriella was about to go inside, she heard an all-to-familiar voice. Turning around, she found none other than Troy standing behind her.

"Shouldn't you be out with your girlfriend?" Gabriella asked him.

"What girlfriend?" he said.

"Don't play dumb with me, it won't work! I know you're still seeing Jen," Gabriella said.

"Oh, her," he said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "I dumped her."

"Yeah, right," she said, knowing better than to believe him.

"So, what are you doing here alone?" he asked her, quickly changing the subject before they got into another dispute.

"I'm not alone." Gabriella pointed at Blake who was ordering. "I'm on a date."

"Oh, I see," he said, trying to hide his disappointment. "So, do you like him?"

"Yeah," she answered. "He's a really sweet guy."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Troy told her, looking at Blake.

"Why?" she asked him.

"I just don't trust that guy. There's something about him that just seems… I don't know…weird?" he answered.

This comment angered Gabriella. "You don't know anything about him!"

"Yeah, but I know you and I know guys," he replied.

"You don't know anything about me!" she yelled loud enough that practically everyone could hear her.

"Gabriella, I just don't want to see you get hurt, that's all!" Troy said.

"Like how you hurt me?" she said, tears filling her eyes even though she promised herself after the incident earlier that she was through with crying over him.

"Gabi, what's going on?" Gabriella turned to see Blake approaching them, much to her delight and Troy's dismay.

"Nothing, Blake," she said. "It's just Troy, my ex-best friend."

"Are you giving her problems?" Blake asked him, sounding a bit angry.

Troy shook his head and sighed. "No, I was just talking to her."

"Come on, Blake, let's get a table," Gabriella said, glaring warningly at Troy as if telling him he had better not mess up her date.

Troy sighed and went back over to the table where Chad, Zeke and Jason were already sitting.

"Dude, what happened?" Jason asked him once Troy sat down.

"Nothing." Troy sighed. "I think I just made things worse between Gabriella and I."

"What did you do now?" Chad asked him.

"I told her that I didn't trust Blake and she shouldn't get her hopes up," he explained. "I just don't want to see her get hurt, is that wrong of me?"

"Dude, I wouldn't try to butt into her life anymore," Zeke told him. "When it didn't work out with Sharpay, I learned the hard way it was much easier to just totally stay out of her life and not even speak to her."

"But I can't just do that," Troy said. "I care too much about her and I don't want anyone to hurt her."

"Just move on. It's obvious she has," Chad said, pointing to Blake and Gabriella who were on the other side of the room talking and laughing.

"I wish it were as easy for me as it is for her."

* * *

"I had fun tonight, Blake, thanks," Gabriella said politely once they were about to leave. 

"No problem, Gabriella," Blake said. "I had fun, too."

Gabriella felt someone staring at her, and when she turned around, she found Troy watching them but she chose to ignore him.

Turning back around, she found Blake's face was inching closer to hers. As much as she thought she wanted this, something inside of her told her not to, and that something forced her to back away quickly.

Blake stared sheepishly down at his feet, searching for something to say.

"Sorry, Blake, I just don't think I'm ready," she quickly said, hoping to save him from some embarrassment.

Blake nodded. "I understand. Sorry about that, I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay," she said and kissed his cheek, causing him to blush, just like it had done to Troy the first time she kissed his cheek, she remembered.

"Uh, I should get you home," Blake told her, noticing the time.

"Yeah, my mom will call the cops if I'm not back in time," she said and he laughed.

"I doubt she's that bad," he said.

"Obviously, you don't know my mother very well yet."

* * *

AN: Again, I'm sorry it's taking forever to update, but even though it's hard to believe, I have a life aside writing. The next chapter won't be up for another two weeks probably, because my friend is spending several days at my house, so I'll be extremely busy and can't update. Troy and Jen are over, that should make everyone happy, but the bad news is, she's not out of the story, sorry! This story is most likely going to go longer than my original plan, because my original plan was only around 15 chapters, but I doubt it'll end there. Anyway, thanks for reviewing and putting up with the late updates! 


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: Blake and Jen are all that I own.

* * *

For the next several days, Gabriella began to grow even closer to Blake and less bothered about Troy, who was following his teammates advice and avoided her at all costs even though it was killing him on the inside. He missed her like crazy and he felt completely miserable without her, but she no longer wanted anything to do with him and he had to learn to except that. 

On the other hand, Gabriella couldn't have been happier with her life. Over the past week, she had been spending more and more time with Blake and had pretty much forgot all about Troy. Even though it felt weird at first not having Troy around in some way, she was getting used to it. In her opinion, Troy was just one chapter of her life that had already ended and a new one was just beginning.

On Thursday morning, Gabriella was gathering her books from her locker when suddenly someone came along and slammed her locker door shut. Startled, Gabriella looked beside her to see an obviously very angry Jen.

"What do you want, Jen?" Gabriela asked in a slightly bored tone. "Shouldn't you and Troy be somewhere making out?"

"No, because thanks to you, Troy broke up with me!" Jen shouted angrily.

"He did?" Gabriella asked, suddenly growing interested in the conversation. "When?"

"Last Friday!" she answered.

Gabriella felt a tinge of guilt. She had accused Troy of lying hen he tried to tell her nearly a week ago when he told her, but now she knew it must've been true.

"How do you get he broke up with you because of me? He chose you over me not too long ago, remember?" Gabriella pointed out.

"Because he must be stupid! I mean, you're just some geeky science nerd!" Jen said bitterly.

Gabriella was mad now. "You listen, Troy Bolton is a lot of things but none of them are stupid!"

"He is stupid! Stupid for loving a girl like you!" Jen snapped.

"The only stupid thing Troy has ever done was getting hooked up with you!" Gabriella shot back.

"You had something to do with this, didn't you?" Jen accused her.

"Of course I didn't! Unlike you, I'm not like that! Troy just doesn't want you anymore! If you really loved him, you would want him to be happy!" Gabriella told her just before the warning bell rang through the halls, saving her from a longer argument.

* * *

"So, what was that all about?" Taylor asked her moments after she had gotten to homeroom. 

Gabriella sighed, frustrated. "Stupid Jen is accusing me of being the reason Troy broke up with her, but I didn't really even know he did!"

"Where have you been the past three days? I thought you already knew!" Taylor said.

Gabriella shook her head. "He told me, but I didn't believe him, and I've been too busy to really notice these past few days."

"You mean busy with Blake?" Taylor questioned.

"Uh, yeah, I guess so," she answered.

"So, has he asked you to be his girlfriend yet?" Taylor asked curiously.

"No, we're just friends!" Gabriella said, although the blush on her face told the real truth.

Taylor laughed. "Whatever you say."

* * *

"So, dude, what's up?" Chad asked Troy later that day during lunch. 

"Not much," Troy answered. "You?"

"Nothing here either," Chad said. "So, did you hear what Jen did?"

"Oh no, don't tell me!" Troy said, scared to know. "I never want to hear her name ever again!"

"But, I think you might want to know this being it involves Gabriella," Chad said. "And don't try to deny it, I know you still like her."

"What happened?" Troy asked, fearing the worst.

"I saw it myself," Chad started. "Jen started accusing Gabriella of being the cause of you breaking up with her, but Gabriella denied it saying that she's not even speaking to you. Then, Jen called you stupid for loving Gabriella, then she called her a geeky science nerd. Then, Gabriella told her that the only stupid thing you've ever done was date her. Basically, that's it."

Troy looked at him, shocked momentarily. He was expecting a different outcome to the argument, but he was glad Jen didn't hurt Gabriella like he was half expecting.

"I wish she'd just learn to leave people alone. Doesn't she get that I don't have feeling for her anymore?" Troy said, frustrated.

"Obviously not," Chad said. "Maybe you need to find a new girlfriend, then maybe she'll get the message."

"It's not that easy," Troy said.

"Of course it is! I bet that every girl in this cafeteria would jump at the chance to be asked out by the most popular guy in East High," Chad said.

"Not every girl," Troy said, staring at a certain brunette who was sitting across the room with another guy.

Chad sighed. "You need to move on, dude, it's obvious she has."

"Yeah, but I have a feeling that something is going to happen to her," Troy said.

"Like what? She gets a boyfriend that's not you?" Chad questioned.

"No," he lied partially, knowing he was a tad jealous of Blake. "I just don't want her to get hurt again."

"So what if she does?" Chad asked, shrugging. "She's not your responsibility anymore. She wants nothing to do with you, so just stay out of it."

Troy sighed, knowing he was right. As long as Gabriella wanted nothing to do with him, he should respect her wishes and just stay out of her life, even if it killed him.

* * *

"So, Gabriella, would you like a ride home?" Blake asked her after school. 

"Yeah, sure. Thanks," she answered, putting the rest of her books in her bag.

Together, they walked down the halls of East High, in a comfortable silence. Once they made it to his car, Gabriella put her bag in the back seat and sat in the passenger seat. Blake got in the driver's seat and put the key in the ignition.

The ride was spent mostly in a comfortable silence. Gabriella's mind wandered onto what went on that morning. Jen had been acting like a spoiled brat in her opinion. If a guy broke up with her, she would just let them go because she didn't want a man to stick around because he had to but because he _wanted_ to. True, when Troy basically dumped her, she was heartbroken because he was her best friend, but she didn't try to win him back. Jen, on the other hand, was making a big deal out of it. She acted like it was Gabriella's fault that Troy broke up with her, but Gabriella wasn't even on speaking terms with Troy, so how could she have caused it?

"Hey, Gabriella, something wrong?" Blake asked her, noticing the distant look on her face.

"Oh, um, I was just thinking about something that happened earlier, that's all," she answered, snapping out of her thoughts momentarily.

"What happened?" he asked curiously.

"I was confronted by Jen, Troy's now ex-girlfriend. She was accusing me of being the reason Troy broke up with her, but I'm not even on speaking terms with him so how could I have caused it?" Gabriella explained.

"Some people just like to blame others when it's really their fault. They just look for an easy excuse, and her excuse is probably that Troy still has feelings for you, but if you're smart which I know you are, you'll stay away from the whole mess," Blake advised.

"Thanks, but what if she keeps it up and it gets worse?" she asked.

"That's when you wear a disguise, change your name and hope she can't recognize you," he joked, making Gabriella laugh.

"That might work," she said. "But hopefully it won't come to that. Hopefully that's the last I'll see of her."

"Yeah, maybe," he said, pulling into her driveway.

"Thanks for the ride, Blake," she said, starting to get out of the car. She opened the back door and pulled out her book bag. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Um, wait, there's something I forgot to ask you," Blake said, following her to her door.

"What-" Gabriella was cut off by Blake who had caught up with her and kissed her. At first, Gabriella was taken aback, but she soon gave into the kiss and kissed him back.

When they pulled apart, they were both smiling awkwardly until Blake got up the courage to ask her the question that had been on his mind for days. "Gabriella, will you be my girlfriend?"

"Of course I will," she answered.

"Great! Then I guess I'll see you tomorrow then," he said, giving her a peck on the lips before leaving.

"Um, yeah, see you then," she called after him quietly.

Once he had left, Gabriella quickly ran upstairs to her room and pulled out her cell phone. After dialing the old familiar number, she waited for Taylor to pick up the phone.

"Hey, Gabi," Taylor greeted her friend after a few rings. "Didn't I just see you?"

"Yeah, but I have great news!" Gabriella said excitedly.

"What are you waiting for? Spill!" Taylor said anxiously.

"Blake kissed me and asked me to be his girlfriend!" Gabriella said excitedly.

"Congratulations! Now you can officially move past the whole Troy mess," Taylor told her.

"Um, yeah," she answered, suddenly not as enthused as before. Now that she knew his feelings for her, she felt guilty but then again, he did it to her first.

"So, how was it? The kiss I mean," Taylor asked her curiously.

Gabriella laughed. "Why should I tell you?"

"Because I'm your best friend so I need to know these things!" Taylor answered, making Gabriella laugh again.

"It was great, happy now?" she answered.

"Very happy," Taylor said. "Are you happy?"

"I just hope I don't get hurt again," Gabriella said. "I don't think I can take anymore heartache this month."

"Blake seems like a nice guy. I don't think you have to worry about it," Taylor assured her.

"Yeah, maybe," Gabriella replied.

"Um, Gabi, I'll talk to you tomorrow. I have a lot of stuff I need to do," Taylor told her.

"Oh, okay, see you tomorrow," Gabriella said and hung up the phone.

Walking over to her nightstand, Gabriella found a paper turned face down. She picked it up and examined it, only to realize it was "Teardrops On My Guitar". She hadn't pulled it out since Troy had accused her of spreading lies about he and Jen, and as she looked over it, old feelings began to resurface as to how she felt about Troy before he broke her heart, but she quickly shrugged them away and threw the song in the trash can. She was done crying. She was with Blake now and she didn't need Troy or her song. There would be no more teardrops on her guitar.

* * *

AN: I'm totally sorry for the long update, but things kept popping up and I couldn't help it. Anyway, this wasn't one of my favorites, but I needed to get Blake and Gabriella together somehow. Also, on another note, I know a lot of you went on my profile and voted on which of the four story ideas I had listed that you wanted me to write first, and for those of you who voted for Speak, that will be the first and I already have chapter one almost done, so that'll be up in the next several days hopefully. The others are still undecided, but as of this moment, Breaking The Ice is at a very close second, so I'll try to start that after this story is finished. Then, the other two will start after either my other story, I'll Stand By You, or Speak is done, whichever one finishes first, but either one will be anytime soon. Anyway, to those still reading, thanks so much! I promise the next update will be sooner! 


	12. Chapter 12

AN: I'm so sorry for not updating since July! I didn't realize it had been that long since I last updated, so I'm very, very, very sorry! But, you guys won't have long updates for this to worry about much longer. There's only two chapters left after this and then the story will be finished.

Disclaimer: It hasn't changed.

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Blake and Gabriella officially became a couple. Everything seemed to be going smoothly for them, but Gabriella felt there was something missing, but she wasn't sure what it was.

"I guess I'll see you tonight, Blake. I'm going to talk to Kelsi for a bit," Gabriella told him and gave him a peck on the lips before turning to leave.

"Yeah, see you then," Blake replied distractedly.

As Gabriella walked down the hallway, she found Troy standing by his locker. It had been a while since the last time she had talked to him, and she missed him like crazy. She wanted so desperately to say she had moved past him, but the more she avoided him, the more she wanted to talk to him. In a way, she felt it was her fault that they weren't speaking. If only she hadn't had been so stubborn the night he tried to apologize, then maybe Troy would still be her friend. Then again, he was the one who broke her heart in the first place.

Pushing that thought aside, Gabriella felt it was time she forgot about moving past Troy, because she knew that that would be impossible. She didn't care what Blake said; he didn't know Troy the way she did. She didn't know why, but she had to talk to him.

"Uh, hi, Troy," Gabriella said, stopping behind him.

Troy jumped and turned to face her, unable to believe that Gabriella was actually talking to him.

"You mean you're actually talking to me now? What happened? Did that Blake guy or whoever break your heart like I told you he would?" Troy asked, bitterness filling his voice.

"No, but please forgive me for trying to talk to you!" Gabriella snapped angrily. Now she remembered why she never talked to him. All it did was lead to an argument.

"Well when I tried to talk to you, I apparently wasn't good enough to talk to!" Troy pointed out.

"If it wasn't for you, we would have never stopped talking!" she shot back. "I thought maybe we could start over, but now I wonder why I wanted to talk to you in the first place!"

Gabriella stormed down the hallway, leaving a stunned, silent Troy behind. Gabriella finally wanted to talk to him, but he blew his chance. At the rate he was going, he figured he'd be lucky if she ever spoke to him again.

* * *

"I can't believe him! I thought he wanted to talk to me!" Gabriella said to no one in particular as she walked towards the music room to find Kelsi. However, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that Troy was acting the same way towards her that she acted towards him when he attempted to talk to her only a few weeks ago.

Gabriella opened the door to the music room and found Kelsi sitting at the piano rehearsing.

"Hey, Kels," Gabriella greeted her friend, taking a seat beside her.

"Hey, Gabi!" Kelsi greeted her back. "How've you been?"

"Okay, I guess," Gabriella answered and sighed. "I tried to talk to Troy a few minutes ago."

"I thought you were moving past him," Kelsi said.

"I thought I was, too," Gabriella said. "I'm starting to miss him. I know he broke my heart, but I miss him."

"Maybe you're just better off apart," Kelsi told her. "Ever since you and Troy went your separate ways, you've been seemingly happier. You always seemed depressed when you were with him, but you haven't been depressed lately from what I see. Besides, you have Blake now, forget Troy."

"Yeah, but to be honest, I don't think Blake and I will last long," Gabriella replied. "I don't know why, but every time I'm with him, I keep wanting to imagine it's Troy I'm kissing and talking to."

"Gabi, you'll get over it in time," Kelsi assured her.

"I hope so," she said, sighing.

* * *

Once Gabriella got home after talking to Kelsi, she got ready for her date with Blake. Her mother was working late that night, meaning she would be home alone until Blake got there.

After dressing up and fixing her hair and make-up, Gabriella sat down on the couch and turned on the television. She still had half an hour before Blake arrived.

* * *

Before Gabriella knew it, the clock had struck five o'clock, but Blake was nowhere around.

'_Maybe he's just running a little late,'_ she told herself, continuing to stare at the clock.

* * *

Another half an hour passed, but Blake still hadn't showed up. Gabriella was getting worried so she grabbed her cell phone and called him. After several rings, Blake's voice mail message came on.

"Hey, this is Blake. Sorry I couldn't answer your call, but just leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as I can."

"Blake, it's Gabriella. Our date was half an hour ago. Please call me back as soon as you can," Gabriella said and hung up. Sighing, she laid down on the couch, starring at the ceiling. She grabbed the remote and turned the television off. Thoughts about Blake began to pop into her mind. Where was he? Why was he late? Was he all right? Did something happen to him? Was he caught in traffic? These were just a few questions that entered her mind.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to be late," Gabriella assured herself.

* * *

At six, Gabriella jumped when she heard the doorbell ring. Quickly, she opened the door, expecting Blake, but the boy standing before her was definitely not Blake.

"Gabriella, hey," Troy greeted her, flashing her a small smile.

"Tr-Troy, why are you here?" she asked, quickly trying to wipe her eyes before he noticed that she had been crying, but it was too late.

"I just came over to apologize for earlier," Troy explained. "I guess that I, like you, have a stubborn attitude at times."

"Yeah," Gabriella agreed quietly, forcing a smile. "Uh, do you want to come in?"

"Yeah, sure," Troy said and followed her to the couch, closing the door behind him.

"So, why do you look so sad?" Troy asked her, cautiously draping his arm over her shoulders. He missed being able to touch her, and he had been longing for quite some time to be able to hold her in his arms again, but thanks to Jen, he couldn't, but now, he didn't have her to worry about.

"It's nothing, Troy," Gabriella lied, snuggling closer to him. She missed his touch as much as he missed touching her, but she couldn't tell anyone that. She was with Blake, but Troy was the only guy who she ever let get this close to her.

"Gabs, I know you better than that," Troy stated. "Is it Blake?"

Hesitantly, Gabriella nodded, knowing he would get it out of her sooner or later.

"Did he hurt you?" Troy asked softly.

Gabriella shook her head. "He stood me up."

"Oh, Gabriella, I'm sorry to hear that," Troy said, pulling her into a friendly embrace. "You're too good for him, anyway."

"Do you really think so?" Gabriella asked him.

"Of course I do, Gabi," Troy told her, stroking her hair affectionately. "You're better than him, and you're definitely better than me. Heck, you're better than every guy in East High! Maybe even better than all the guys in the world!"

Gabriella laughed lightly and rested her head in the crock of his neck. "I highly doubt that, but thanks."

"Hey, I made you laugh. Does that count for something?" Troy asked, grinning.

"Whatever, Troy," Gabriella said, playfully rolling her eyes at him.

"So, are we friends again?" Troy asked her, a sudden wave of nervousness overcoming his usually confident features.

"Of course, Troy," Gabriella said, smiling brightly. "I've missed you so much!"

"Not as much as I've missed you," Troy replied and gently kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry for everything that happened, and I promise it'll never happen again!"

"It's okay, Troy," she assured him. "That's in the past. Let's just forget it ever happened."

Troy nodded. "Yeah, I guess that's best."

"So, what are you going to do about Blake?" Troy asked her, changing the subject.

"I don't know," she answered. "I like him, a lot, Troy, and it's not that big of a deal that he's late. Maybe he was having car problems or something."

"Did he try to call you?" Troy asked her.

"No, but I'm sure he has a good reason," Gabriella said.

Troy sighed frustrated and pulled away from her abruptly.

"Troy, what's wrong?" Gabriella asked him, silently wishing she were back in his arms again.

"I was so stupid!" Troy said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I thought that maybe you still had feelings for me, but I was wrong."

"But, Troy, I do love you," Gabriella said and placed a soft, gentle kiss on his cheek. "As a friend, though. I did want to be more, but I don't know if we should ever be more. I'm with Blake now, and I also care about him."

"Can we ever be more?" Troy asked her.

"Someday, maybe. But, for now, let's just be friends," Gabriella said.

"As long as you're no longer mad at me, I'll gladly settle for being friends," he agreed. Just as he said that, the doorbell rang again.

Gabriella groaned and walked towards the door. She opened it, revealing Blake, much to Troy's dismay.

"Gabi, I'm so sorry for being late! I guess I lost track of time," Blake said apologetically.

"It's okay," Gabriella said smiling.

"I guess I should be leaving," Troy said, walking towards them. "But, first, Blake, Gabriella's like a sister to me, so if you pull another stunt like that, you'll have me to deal with."

"Troy, don't threaten him!" Gabriella scolded playfully, hitting his arm.

"Oh, Montez, you're lucky your boyfriend's here or else you'd get it!" he threatened, smirking playfully.

"I thought you were leaving?" Gabriella queried.

"Yeah. I can tell when I'm not wanted," Troy said and started walking outside.

"Goodbye, Troy," Gabriella replied. Once he was gone, Gabriella turned back to Blake, who was eyeing her suspiciously.

"I take it you two made up," Blake observed.

"Yeah," Gabriella said, smiling. "But, if you would've been on time we wouldn't have, so in a way, I'm glad you were late."

"Should've finished earlier," Blake mumbled under his breath.

"Huh?" Gabriella asked him.

"Oh, nothing. Let's just get going."


	13. Chapter 13

Again, I apologize for the lack of updates but there's been a lot of drama in my life for the last few months and it's all finally starting to simmer down somewhat, which gives me time to write instead of constantly worrying, so thanks for baring with me and I hope to have the last chapter up before the end of this year.

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine, other than Blake and Jen.

* * *

Over the following week, things between Troy and Gabriella had gone almost completely back to the way they were before the mess began; before Jen had come into the picture. However, the more time they spent together, the more Gabriella found herself falling for him all over again. Little did she know, Troy was having the same problem. However, unlike Gabriella, Troy wasn't trying to deny it. 

"…So, you coming to my place after school? Shoot some hoops, one-on-one?" Chad asked Troy. It was right after their free period workout in the gym.

"Nah, not tonight. I told Gabi I'd walk her home," Troy replied.

"To not be together, you two certainly spend a lot of time together," Chad pointed out.

"Yeah, but I'm not trying to take her from Blake. Of course I want to, but she never tried interfering with my relationship with Jen so I won't do it to her," Troy stated, not knowing that Blake was listening.

"You should make your move. I mean, now's the perfect time, they aren't that close yet," Chad told him.

"I know, but I couldn't do that to Gabi, she's my friend and she finally trusts me again. I don't want to ruin it again," Troy explained.

"Whatever, Dude," Chad said. "But you'll regret it."

* * *

"…So, Gabsters, how was your day?" Troy asked Gabriella as they stepped out of the school. 

"It was great! Blake didn't talk much, though," Gabriella said, frowning slightly.

Sensing her distress, Troy wrapped his arm comfortingly around her shoulders as they walked. "Is something going on?"

Gabriella sighed. "I don't know. He's been distant and distracted lately and I don't know why."

"I'm sure it's nothing," Troy assured her, although deep down he was hoping for a potential split.

"Gabi, where are you going?" Gabriella turned to see none other than Blake not far from them.

"Troy's walking me home, why?" Gabriella replied.

"Why, so you can break us up, Bolton?" Blake questioned him.

"No, I wouldn't do that! Maybe I just want to spend some time with my friend," Troy defended.

"I heard what you said to that jock buddy of yours about how you want Gabriella and I to break up!" Blake snapped. Gabriella looked at Troy in shock.

"Troy, is this true?" she questioned, gazing at him intensely.

"Gabi, you know me! I would never do that to you!" he defended. "I don't want to hurt you again."

"That's not what I heard," Blake replied. "You said you wanted to."

"But I also said that I would never actually do it!" Troy stated. "Gabriella's happiness is all I'm concerned about and if she's happy with you, so be it."

"Gabriella, are you really going to trust him?" Blake asked her. Gabriella looked uncertain.

"I, uh, I should be going. I'll see both of you Monday." With that said, Gabriella started walking away, leaving both of them standing in the middle of the parking lot.

Blake glared at Troy. "You had your chance."

"I know, but as much as I want to, I'm not ruining yours because I'm sure you'll find a way to do it yourself," Troy snapped.

"You're just jealous of me," Blake stated, heading towards his car.

"Jealous?" Troy laughed. "Please."

"Whatever, but we both know who Gabriella will chose in the end and that's m-"

"Up to her," Troy cut in.

"Whatever, Bolton," Blake replied and got in his car, ending the confrontation.

* * *

Over the weekend, Gabriella hadn't spoken to Blake or Troy after the incident. She didn't understand why the two just couldn't get along, for her sake at least. She didn't believe Troy would say he wanted them to break up, but she never thought Blake would lie to her either. Then again, in the past, she'd seen that almost anything is possible, especially when it came to Troy Bolton. 

On Monday, Gabriella had managed to avoid Blake and Troy the entire school day until after school, where he spotted her in the hallway.

"Gabriella, I've been meaning to talk to you," Troy said, rushing over to her. "What he said Friday is not true. You know me, I would never-"

"I believe you," Gabriella cut him off. "Blake, I guess, just gets…I don't know…."

"Jealous?" he finished, relieved that Gabriella wasn't mad at him like he thought would happen.

"Uh, yeah," Gabriella agreed.

"Hey, why don't I take you out for some ice cream, you know, to get your mind off everything," Troy suggested.

"Uh, sure, but I have to stop by the chemistry lab to get something from Taylor. I'll be right back," Gabriella told him and walked off in another direction.

"Meet me at our spot!" Troy called. Gabriella nodded before turning the corner.

Heading in another, Troy walked upstairs to his secret spot. However, he heard noises that made it apparent he wasn't alone. Creeping up the last flight of stairs, Troy was horrified by what he saw.

"What the heck are you doing!" Troy yelled angrily. There was Blake, making out with a girl that Troy automatically knew was not Gabriella and Troy wasn't pleased.

Pulling away from the girl, Blake glared at Troy. "Mind your own business!"

"You cheating on my friend is my business!" Troy stated bitterly.

"If you were that concerned about your little 'friend', you never would've dumped me!" the girl behind Blake revealed herself. It was none other than Jen, the girl whom Troy wished he never met.

"Why are you doing this, Jen? Are you obsessed with making Gabriella miserable?" Troy asked, his blood boiling.

"You know that's not true, babe," Jen said, approaching Troy.

"Leave me and Gabriella alone! I dumped you for a reason!" Troy yelled. However, Jen had other plans.

Throwing her arms around his neck, Jen kissed Troy just as Gabriella appeared behind them. Smirking, Jen knew this would happen.

"Troy, what's going on?" Gabriella asked him, feeling her heart shattering all over again.

"Gabriella, Blake is cheating on you," Troy answered.

"From what I see, you lied to me! I found YOU and her, not Blake!" Gabriella yelled, tears of hurt sliding down her face. "You told me you don't want her!"

"Gabi, it's not what it looks like I saw these two in a heated lip-lock when I got up here!"

"Whatever you say. I would never cheat on you, Gabriella, nor would I lie to you, unlike him," Blake stated.

"But, I'm telling the truth!" Troy replied desperately.

"You're just jealous, Troy!" Gabriella snapped, falling for Blake's lies. "You think you can take me from Blake but you're wrong!"

"I'm not trying to! I'm your friend, I would never do that to you," Troy said softly. "I love you and I want you to be happy."

"Well I'm happy without you! I gave you a second chance and you blew it!" Gabriella yelled, hurt and anger evident in her tone. "And, you can have Jen because you're perfect for each other!"

Gabriella, please, just listen to me!" Troy begged, coming towards her after she began to walk away. Turning around, Gabriella gave him a stern look.

"Troy, just leave me alone!" she demanded, but Troy grabbed her arm, preventing her from moving.

"Gabi, please don't say that. I know that's not really what you want," he said softly.

"Yes it is! You lied to me then accused my boyfriend of cheating on me! I never did that to you and that bimbo!" Gabriella yelled, pulling out of his grasp. Jen didn't hear her comment, for she had fled the garden soon after Gabriella had entered.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me when you find out the truth about that loser you have for a boyfriend!" Troy snapped and sulked away. Gabriella looked around to find that both Blake and Jen had left when she wasn't paying attention. Groaning, she set off for what she knew would be a long walk home.


	14. Chapter 14

AN: This is the last chapter (I know, so sad…) Now you'll all find out whether or not this story has a happy ending. This, I don't think, is all that great but at least I finished it, right?

I give a huge thank you to all my readers and reviewers. If not for all of you guys, I probably wouldn't have ever got this story completed. Also, merry belated Christmas, everyone, or happy Honokaa, or happy Kwanzaa, or happy holiday I may have forgotten to mention.

Disclaimer: Everyone should know this by now.

* * *

Sighing, Gabriella threw herself on her bed. As much as she tried to, she couldn't shake the events of earlier out of her head. She admitted, she was a bit hard on Troy, and she knew that they should've figured it out maturely instead of her yelling at him, but she also remembered what he did to her. He accused her of spreading rumors about he and Jen without listening to her, so what comes around goes around as far as she was concerned. However, this thought didn't stop her from feeling guilty. She thought he was the one who was in the wrong, not her. He was the one who had falsely accused her boyfriend of cheating on her, which meant this wasn't her fault, it was Troy's._

* * *

_Over the next two days, Troy avoided everyone-his friends, his teammates, his parents and everyone else. He was in no mood for talking, not after what happened. He had one run in with Gabriella where they brushed against each other in the hallway by accident but that was it. She shot him a dirty look and walked on, leaving Troy standing there wondering what he had done wrong. All he wanted was for the fighting and argument to cease between them unless it was playful, the way it used to be. At that point, he wasn't even sure he still wanted her for a friend after the way she had acted. However, he knew it wasn't her fault. Lance had lied to her and she believed him. He had done the same to her unintentionally before. All he could do was hope that she realized what was going on before it was too late. 

Thursday afternoon, Troy headed towards the gym for practice. Although the season was over, Troy occasionally went to the gym to shoot free throws when he needed a distraction from the drama. Just outside the gym doors, Troy spotted Gabriella coming in the other direction but ignored her. Opening the door quietly, Troy wasn't at all surprised by the sight before him. There was Blake and Jen. However, they were talking this time. There was enough distance between them and Troy that they hadn't noticed him.

Glancing outside the door, Troy spotted Gabriella and motioned for her to come with him.

"No," she responded, walking away.

"Please, Gabriella,you really need to see this," he pleaded.

"Fine," she said, giving in. Walking into the gym, Gabriella was surprised to find Blake and Jen in the gym, talking.

"See?" Troy mouthed to her.

Covering her mouth to hold in a gasp, Gabriella listened to the conversation.

"…So, baby, when will you dump her?" Jen asked Blake, arms encircling his neck.

"Soon, babe, very soon," Blake answered, placing a kiss on her lips.

Angrily, Gabriella marched towards them, startling both of them.

"Oh, God, um, Gabriella, I can explain," Blake stuttered.

"Oh really? So you're going to dump me soon? Well, how about I save you the trouble and dump you?" she said, tears of hurt and anger welling up in her eyes. "I thought you were better than this but apparently not."

Before anymore could be said, Gabriella suddenly ran out of the gym and out the back door leading to the outside. After shooting Blake a dirty look, Troy took off after her.

* * *

On a bench out side the school, Gabriella sat staring at her feet. Although she was ready to cry, she hadn't. She didn't care as much that Blake had fooled her, but she was upset with herself for not believing Troy. True, he had done some stupid things in the past, but she knew he would never intentionally hurt her or lie to her. Now he was probably going to laugh in her face and tell her "I told you so" before walking out of her life for good. 

Upon hearing footsteps, Gabriella looked up and found Troy coming towards her. _'Great,'_ she thought. _'He's going to do it already.'_

"Hey," Troy said softly, sitting next to her.

"Just get it over with," Gabriella said bitterly.

"Get what over with?" he asked, confused.

"I know you're here just to tell me I told you so," she replied.

"Nah, Gabi, I'm not that cruel," he said. "It's true, but my reason for being here is to make sure you're all right."

"I'm fine," she said.

"Then, why did you run out?" he asked.

"I couldn't bare to see him," she answered quietly.

"You liked him a lot, didn't you?" Troy asked her.

Shaking her head, Gabriella sighed. "I don't know, but I'm not as upset as I thought I'd be."

"That's good," he replied.

"Troy, I'm sorry for not believing you. I was wrong and out of line with what I said so I'm sorry," she said, apologetically.

"It's okay, Gabi, we all make mistakes, especially me," Troy assured her.

"Friends again?" Gabriella asked him.

Troy frowned. "I can't."

"Oh," she said, disappointed. "I understand."

"No, Brie, you don't understand," Troy said. "I'm tired of being friends with you, it's too hard. I can't kiss you, hold you, tell you how much I love you, none of that."

"Wait, what are you saying?" she asked, shocked. Troy had just confessed his feelings for her but she was having problems comprehending.

"What I'm saying is obvious. I want to be more than friends," he stated. "If it's okay with you."

Smiling brightly, Gabriella nodded as he leaned forward and captured her lips with his. Gabriella kissed him back and rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the warmth his body produced. His kiss was nice. It was soft and gentle, the way she always imagined it would be only better.

"You know," he started, draping his arm around her back. "The next stage in our relationship that I was talking about is friends with benifits."

Gabriella hit him playfully in the chest. "Way to ruin the moment, Bolton."

Troy grinned and kissed her cheek. "I'm kidding, Gabs."

"Good," she replied as he leaned in for another kiss. He didn't know why, but kissing her felt entirely different from kissing Jen. Kissing Gabriella to him was like taking a breath of fresh air, one he wished would last a lifetime.

"So, Gabriella, no more teardrops on your guitar?" Troy asked seriously.

"No more teardrops on my guitar," she confirmed. With that, they both leaned in for another kiss.


End file.
